The Last Yagami Child
by XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX
Summary: Sayu is sick and tired of this! She's just as smart as her brother. Why can't she be helping her father with the case he's on? A new student at her school is working on the Kira Case and she confronts him, hoping to join him too. SayuXNear
1. Prologue

**The Last Yagami Child**

**Prologue**

Sayu Yagami leaned her head into her palm, staring boredly at the table she leaned on. Her mother bustled around the kitchen, preparing for breakfast. It was only her and her mother left now in the Yagami household. Her father, brother, and sister were too busy on some case to even come home now.

She frowned as she thought about this, but before she could continue thinking her mother came over with a plate of food and sat it in front of her. "Here you go, honey. I'd hurry up and eat. You don't want to be late," Sachiko Yagami said with a shadow of what used to be her true smile. She had been so sad since Soichiro Yagami, Sayu's father, hadn't been coming home.

So Sayu gave her a fake smile as well and said, "Thanks, Mother." She began to eat quickly, wanting to slip out of the empty house as soon as possible. She just didn't want to leave her mother all alone.

What took forever to eat, Sayu finally excused herself, slipped on her shoulder pack and called a good-bye to her mother as she headed out. As she walked down the stairs, her fake happy face sobered and she stared at the ground, thinking about what was happening in Japan.

Why couldn't people see her smart too? Okay, so she didn't like turning in her schoolwork. Big deal, the work was easy for her. She was just as smart as her brother! Why couldn't she be seen as smart as him? She scoffed, kicking at a rock on the sidewalk. It's because he was one of the smartest students in Japan. She _couldn't_ compare to him.

"Hey, Sayu!" Sayu looked back and saw a girl in her class running up to her. Sayu smiled sweetly.

"Hey, Ai," Sayu said, pretending to be happy seeing the girl.

The girl grinned and began chatting away. Obviously, she had no idea Sayu wasn't paying attention. It's not that she wanted to ignore her friend, but she wasn't interested in talking. She wanted to complain about everything going on, but she wasn't able to. No one was to know her family was working on the Kira Case. They could all be in danger then.

Sayu turned to Ai, beginning to talk about some random thing going on in school. Soon both Sayu and Ai were giggling and talking about the coolest guy in school and whispering about the latest slut as well and how it seemed she was pregnant. Oh, how Sayu loved how easily gossip could take things off her mind.

"Oh, there's our group!" Ai giggled as she pointed off at a group of girls near the entrance of school.

"Oh, hey, Sayu! Ai!" a blond girl called with a grin on her face. Her name was Momo.

Sayu and Ai made their way through the crowds towards their very preppy group of friends. Around the crowd, there was Momo, who went to hug Ai. Then there was Hanako, a girl with light blue hair she colored, her hair in pigtails. Kamiko and Rika were girls with short black hair that barely brushed their shoulders. There was a lock of black hair between their brown eyes, each girl having their ends pointing in the wrong direction. It was the only way the group could tell the twins apart.

"Okay, so you'll never guess what happened this morning!" Hanako squealed, brushing some of her blue bangs out of her eyes. "So, you know Toshiko, right? The sadist bitch that hates our guts?"

The girls in the group, besides Sayu, giggled at Hanako's last comment.

"Well, what happened?" Kamiko pressed, leaning in slightly.

Rika rolled her eyes. "You can be such a gossiper," Rika teased, poking her sister in the side. Kamiko squealed.

"Well, tell us," Momo grumbled.

"Okay, fine," Hanako sighed. Ai laughed. "Toshiko asked out Aki!"

Ai gasped. "Really?"

Sayu looked around, getting annoyed. Her friends could be great and all, but right now she didn't want to hang around with them. She wanted to talk to her other friend, the one friend her other friends didn't want to hang out with her.

Before she could think any more, the bell rang for school. Sayu's group headed in together, chatting away. Well, it was more like gossiping this morning. Sayu hated gossip, and yet she couldn't help, but get involved. It was a relief to forget everything for a moment.

"All right, let's part now," Sayu announced as they turned down their hall to their classrooms. Her whole group nodded and headed off. They all had separate lockers far away from each other.

As Sayu opened her locker, she watched as darkness covered over her eyes. She fought the urge to yelp and smiled. "Hey, Elle," Sayu greeted.

She could already see the pout on the girl's lips before she even saw Elle, but Elle was smiling as Sayu turned around to greet her. "Morning, Sayu," she replied, opening the locker next to Sayu.

Elle was about five feet tall with messy, but straight black hair that reached just past her shoulders and such deep blue eyes they were almost onyx. She was very pale and had an amazing British accent. This was the friend the rest of Sayu's friends didn't like. She was too smart for the rest of them (even though Sayu was almost as smart as Elle).

"Did you do yesterday's assignment?" Sayu wondered as she pulled out her history and science textbook, then reached for her notebooks too.

"Of course I did. Father never lets me skip work," Elle frowned, taking out the same books as Sayu. "He's a detective. Of course he never lets me slack off." She grinned. "But he did give me a great gift last night. He gave me an old laptop of his!"

"Really? We should look at it later."

"Want to meet up at _Dragon's Brew_ tonight?"

"Sure!" Sayu was positive her mom wouldn't mind.

Elle smiled and began walking towards their Home Room. Sayu followed, the two chatting away as they went.

They both slipped into their desks, right across from each other, and continued to talk for several minutes until the bell the teacher called for their attention.

"All right, today for Science, we shall begin talking about…"

So, for a while, the teacher droned on. Sayu doodled away in her notebook while taking notes. Elle stared mostly out of the window. So, it was a surprise when Sayu had a note slid over to her. She glanced over at Elle, but Elle was busy looking out the window again.

Sayu opened the note quietly, hoping to not catch anyone's attention. Elle's curly writing popped up at her. _'Let's skip the rest of school. We won't be caught.' _Sayu smiled and glanced at Elle, who raised a questioning eyebrow.

Sayu gave her one nod. She was tired of school. Besides, since Elle could hack into the school's computers easily, they could get their assignments easily. No one would know.

"Sayu, can you please read the next following paragraphs?" Sayu's teacher wondered.

"All right," Sayu nodded, glancing at Elle, who mouthed the page number. She began reading, taking notes as she did so. She did notice the teacher frown slightly. Sayu knew the teacher had thought she had no idea what was going on, but she did. Well… mostly. Elle helped a lot too.

Class seemed to drone on after this and Sayu groaned through it a lot (silently, of course). Elle helped deal with it because she began to draw up a plan to get them out of class. Finally, the bell rang, dismissing the class.

Sayu and Elle giggled as they slipped past students easily. "Here we go. Let's go to _Dragon's Brew _now Sayu," Elle laughed as they emerged outside. Careful not to be caught, the two girls slipped off school grounds and disappeared from sight of the principal.

He sighed and picked up his phone, calling for Soichiro Yagami and the man claiming to be Elle's father.

#

#

L, the world's greatest detective, stared at the screen of the television, watching videos over and over. This was what he had been doing all night now, although he hadn't been able to watch sound while he watched overnight.

He was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Frustrated, he fished the annoying device out of his pocket and flipped it open as he walked out of the room. "Yes."

"Ah, Mr. Ryuzaki, I'm so happy you answered yourself today."

It was the principal. He frowned.

"Did she get into some sort of trouble today?"

"Elle is… skipping school as we shall say, along with a Ms. Yagami."

L blinked, glancing at Soichiro Yagami, father of this 'Ms. Yagami', otherwise known as Sayu. "All right, I shall have Elle's caretaker find her and bring her back."

"Thank you. Do you wish to join us at our… meeting today?"

"No, Mr. Shadow shall arrive for the meeting. I have too much work today."

"All right." L could already hear the annoyed tone in the principal's voice.

"Mr. Avan, I'm sorry I cannot come to the school to deal with Elle, but I have to say, I'm surprised you are judging me on this fact."

"O-oh, Mr. Ryuzaki, I did not mean to offend you. I'm simply saying it would be better if you came in person-"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot. Good day." L hung up before Mr. Avan could say anymore. He entered the room once more. He spoke to Soichiro first. "Mr. Yagami, please turn on your cell phone. You will be receiving a call any moment now."

Soichiro nodded and as his phone fully turned on, it rang. L turned away and walked over to Watari. "Watari, Elle has gotten herself into trouble again. Can you please go to _Dragon's Brew _and take her back to school? And please take Mr. Yagami with you."

Watari nodded. "All right, Ryuzaki." He turned and walked over to Mr. Yagami, who was speaking to someone in a hushed whisper.

#

#

Elle and Sayu broke out into giggles as they watched the newest episode of their favorite television show. "I love this laptop, Elle," Sayu sighed as she observed the screen.

"I know. And I love all the cool gadgets on it too!"

"Sayu Yagami!"

Both girls froze. "Oh, crap," Sayu mouthed at Elle.

"Elle Ryuzaki!"

Elle did a silent groan and turned. Two men the girls recognized as their guardians walked over, Soichiro Yagami giving his daughter the 'stink eye*'. Sayu saw an older looking man come up to Elle.

"Elle, who's that?" Sayu whispered.

"I'll explain later," she whispered back before Watari gave her a look that made her swallow.

"Elle Ryuzaki, please hand me the laptop." Watari held out his hand. Grudgingly, Elle locked the computer (although it was futile to keep her father out) and handed it to Watari.

"Sayu, we'll have a talk when we get to the school," Soichiro warned as he motioned for the girls to get out of the booth. Both girls did and followed out the door, heads bowed. Elle was smirking slightly beneath her messy hair, but Sayu looked guilty.

Watari held open the door for both girls and closed it with a thud. Elle gave Sayu an apologetic smile as the guardians drove them back to school.

*the stink eye is basically the dirty look you get with only one eye, except it has a whole lot better name

**~Author's Note~**

**Hello! I hoped you liked my newest Death Note Story. If you did, REVIEW!**

**XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"This is inexcusable, Sayu, Elle," Mr. Avan sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I hate that I have to do this."

Sayu Yagami and Elle Ryuzaki stood in front of the principal of the school they went to. Earlier that day, Sayu and Elle had snuck out of the school hoping they would be able to sneak away for the day. As it turns out, the principal had seen the two leaving and had called their parents. Sayu's father and Elle's "Caretaker" had returned them to the school. At the moment, the two stood in the back of the room, watching whatever punishment would be put upon them.

"What's going to happen?" Elle wondered boredly. She'd heard this before. It wasn't the first stunt she'd pulled and after her fifth lecture, she'd basically stopped paying attention.

Mr. Avan had sensed this. His annoyance spiked up to anger. "You want to know your punishment? You're expelled from school, Elle! You're expelled for a week!"

Elle stared in shock and Sayu's mouth fell open in shock. Mr. Avan turned to Sayu before she could open her mouth. "And you'll have a week worth of detentions, Sayu! If this ever happens again, I'll kick you out of the program along with you, Elle. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," both girls murmured.

"Good. Mr. Shadow, please take Elle home. Sayu can drop off her work later." With that, the principal dismissed them.

Watari was giving Elle a long look as he held out a gloved hand. Elle shoved her hands in her pockets, turning her face away from Watari. Sayu walked beside her father, her head bowed. She gave a sideways glance at Elle and saw the slightly smug look on her face. But when Elle looked at Sayu, all she saw was guilt.

Watari lead Elle away. Sayu glanced back at her, but when Soichiro cleared his throat, she looked back at the ground. "We'll have a talk tonight. Behave."

"Yes, father," Sayu murmured. Without another word, Sayu ran off, just as the bell rang.

#

#

Elle stared out the window. She sat across from Watari in the front seat, silent. Elle glanced at Watari several times as they drove, but she didn't speak until after Watari parked the car. "Watari, is Father going to be upset with me?" Elle wondered as she followed Watari up the stairs of the Hotel. She wrapped her hand around his, her face grim.

"Elle," Watari said with a small smile, "Ryuzaki will understand. He knows you're not challenged enough in school, but he can't provide it and he doesn't want you at Wammy's House for reasons he won't explain."

"He won't be too mad then?"

"Ryuzaki will punish you, but not too harshly. He wants to see if you can do better next time and not get caught."

Elle nodded. "All right."

She smiled widely as the elevator door shut.

#

#

Sayu sighed as she walked to Third Hour. This was great! Now, not only did she get in trouble, but Elle wasn't here either! Now, she would have to wait for lunch until she could actually talk to someone. Her other friends weren't around until lunch and she didn't particularly like any of her other classmates. She groaned and walked into her classroom. Other students filed in after her, but it seemed everyone was only looking at her.

Her teacher was giving her a disapproving look as she walked in, but she smiled. "Ah, Ms. Yagami, we were looking for you earlier." She seemed to give Sayu an evil smile. "This is our new student, Near. I would like you to show him around."

It was the first time she saw the boy standing beside the teacher. His nearly white hair covered most of his expression, but to Sayu, it seemed he was bored.

Sayu wanted to make a face, roll her eyes, and tell her teacher off. But instead, she just smiled and replied, "I'll be happy to show him around."

"He has all of your classes expect first hour, so it shouldn't be too out of your way." The teacher gave Near a nice smile. "Near, Sayu Yagami shall be your escort today."

Near glanced up through his hair at the girl in front of him, but he said nothing. Sayu gave him a tentative smile. "Hello, Near. I'm Sayu."

She held out her hand, but Near didn't take it. He just nodded at her and turned to the teacher. "Where is my desk?"

"Right in front of Sayu, Near," the teacher answered, smiling at the boy.

Near nodded and turned to Sayu. "Where is your desk?" he wondered softly, adjusting his backpack onto one shoulder. Sayu walked down the aisle and motioned to Near's desk.

"Here it is," Sayu smiled, slipping into the desk behind him. "Oh, would you like to eat lunch together?" she wondered, leaning forward slightly so she could speak to him still.

Near shrugged, dropping a notebook on the desk.

"You don't say much, do you?"

He mumbled something about not being good with talking to strangers. Sayu giggled. "Well, I'm easy to talk to. After we get to know each other a little, I think you'll find I'm great."

"I'll join you if you'll play a match of chess with me."

"I love chess! Of course I'll play." Sayu grinned again, then sighed and leaned back as the bell rang and the class was called to order.

#

#

Elle stood in the empty hotel room, attached to the room where her father, Watari, and those of the Kira Case were working. She had set her backpack in the chair by the door and had already taken her shoes off. Now she was waiting for L and Watari to come from the room where they were talking from.

There were sweets just opposite of her. She licked her lips. Oh, those were tempting…

She stood at attention as soon as the door began to open. L was alone and he shuffled over until he was only a foot away from Elle.

Elle hesitated for a moment, then bowed, and said, "I'm sorry, father. I shouldn't have tried to sneak away from school."

L also waited a moment before he replied, "Elle, I'm disappointed." She looked up at him. "I thought, if you really wanted to try outsmarting these people at school, you wouldn't involve anyone. Especially when the person you involve is Chief Yagami's daughter, Sayu."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Elle, not only will you be suspended from the school, but on top of it, I would like your cell phone back, the laptop I gave you, and you won't be going anywhere without Watari escorting you."

"I'm losing the privileges to walk to school?" Elle said with a slight whine in her voice.

"Don't push it," L warned. "I'm your father and you will do as I say."

Elle nodded, her lips pressed together. She knew it wasn't a good idea to say anything now. "Sayu will be over later to drop off your work. You two will work quietly and you won't say a word until she's gone or unless it's school related," L added as he began to walk out of the room. "You can start your work you got during first hour, then you can work on an apology paper. Also, I want you to leave the sweets alone. You can have them when you're more responsible."

Elle nodded again and L left the room. With a sigh, Elle walked over to her backpack and pulled out her history book.

#

#

It was a boring morning. Sayu talked to Near as much as he would talk, but a lot of times they walked in an awkward silence. Rika came over once when she spotted Sayu on the way to class and whispered to her about how cute Near was. Sayu had laughed and pushed her friend away playfully; she called to Rika she'd talk to her later as she caught up with Near again.

Lunchtime finally came around, something Sayu was going to enjoy very much. Near managed to get the chess board for their game and Sayu lead them to the outside and to a mostly empty area where they could sit and enjoy themselves.

Near set up the board as Sayu pulled out her sandwich and then the two began to play.

Sayu spoke to Near while they played. "Why don't you have lunch?"

Near shrugged, saying, "I don't usually eat lunch."

"You should. Here," she replied, tearing off half of her sandwich. Near shook his head.

"It's fine. I don't-"

"I insist," Sayu argued, holding the half of the sandwich out for him to take. Near hesitated, but took the sandwich. As he did, his hand brushed Sayu's. Sayu quickly ducked her head, looking back at the chess board. She could feel heat flood her cheeks. It wasn't that she liked him; she'd just never felt anyone touch her like that before.

Near took a small bite of the sandwich, not saying a thing. They fell into silence, except for the sound of moving chess pieces.

They finally finished their game right before lunch ended. Sayu groaned in frustration, then laughed and threw her sandwich bag at Near jokingly. Her laughter died and she said, "Good job, Near," just as the bell rang.

Near gathered up all of their game and Sayu got all of the garbage. Silently, they walked back to school.

It was a while in school before Sayu finally found something interesting. It was last hour, and she was sitting next to Near for Chemistry. They were watching a video about dissecting frogs. Sayu didn't really want to watch it, so she glanced over at Near. As she did, she saw what he was writing. It wasn't notes, but a four letter word; Kira.

Her eyes widened and she looked up at Near. He caught her eye and quickly scribbled out the word while keeping eye contact. "Are you-" Sayu began, but someone shushed her. She glared at them and glanced at Near again. She gave him the 'wait after class' look, but he pretended not to notice.

Was he after Kira? Or was he just interested? Sayu glanced at Near, but she didn't say anything else until the end of class. When class was over, Sayu gathered everything up quickly and was quick to catch up with Near.

"Near," Sayu said, walking up next to him. "What was that about? Are you interested in Kira?"

Near didn't answer, but deliberately walked into a large crowd. Sayu tried to follow, but lost him quickly. She stopped walking, quickly scanning the area and spotted the white-haired boy. With a grin, she snuck around everyone and tackled Near from behind. He stumbled and crumpled to the ground, Sayu right on top of him.

Sayu got off of Near, apologizing. Near brushed himself off, glancing at Sayu. "I will talk to you about it tomorrow, Sayu," he said, picking up his bag.

Sayu grudgingly agreed. "All right, we'll be talking tomorrow then."

"I'll meet you at the front early tomorrow morning. We'll discuss it in private where no one can overhear us."

Sayu nodded her agreement as they walked out to the entrance of the school.

At that time, Soichiro pulled up. Luckily, he hadn't spotted her yet. He was a little touchy about her hanging around with guys.

"Well, my father's here, Near. I guess I'll be talking to you later," Sayu smiled, hugging the boy quickly. As she left him and began to make her way to her father's car, Sayu was caught by her group of friends. Explaining quickly how she was grounded, she left promising her friends that she would eat lunch with them tomorrow.

#

#

Elle stared boredly at her wall, pretending to be reading her Science textbook. Was Sayu going to be over yet? Elle sighed and set her book down, planning on heading over to the bathroom for a bubble bath. That's when the front door opened and Sayu walked in.

"Finally!" Elle ran over and hugged Sayu. Sayu, despite being irritated with her friend, grinned and hugged the girl back.

"I had the worst day ever!" Sayu moaned, falling down beside Elle on the couch. She dropped her bag on the floor and swiped her hand over her face.

Elle smiled and leaned her head against her hand. "Well, tell me about it. It couldn't have been as boring as my day."

Sayu nodded and began explaining her day, leaving out the part of Near's fascination with Kira. Elle was awake the entire story and after Sayu finished the story, the two jumped into their school work.

It was about midnight when Sayu fell asleep. Elle had turned off the lights and flipped the television on. As soon as Sayu had fallen asleep, she flipped off the electronic, hoping to fall asleep. Sleep didn't come, not even when Soichiro came in and took Sayu home.

**~Author's Note~**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you for the review!**

**XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX **


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Elle opened the door a crack and peeked into the hotel room. It was empty, except for L, who looked up and raised an eyebrow over at her. She walked in and said, "I'm sorry, father, but I can't sleep again."

"Is your condition acting up?" L wondered. Elle nodded.

"Can I stay by you?" L smiled at her and nodded. "Oh, thank you, very much!" Elle hugged her father around his neck and scurried off for her stuff. When she returned, her long ebony hair was pulled back in a braid and she wore a comfy blue and white star pajamas. She wrapped a homemade blanket around her shoulders and snuggled up next to her father.

He was reading a piece of paper when she'd come in. "Can you read me the paper father?" Elle asked after a moment. L looked down at Elle. Her big, curious eyes stared up at him, almost pleading and broke down L's exterior. He smiled at her and nodded. She loved to hear what he was up to, even when she was a little girl. The only difference now was he didn't have to take out all of the gruesome parts.

"Suspect, Light Yagami. Age: seventeen…" And he went on, Elle slowly nodding off as he went into deep detail about his past.

When she fell asleep, L grew silent and stared down at the girl nuzzled up to him. She was unexpected in so many ways and the history wasn't pretty either. But L thought about it anyway, as he slowly stood up and let the girl sprawl out on the couch.

The name came to his mind first. Elle's mother. Elle didn't look a whole lot like her though. She had her mother's slightly upturned nose and her more plump lips, but Elle had his eyes. And his hair. Her straight posture was definitely Laine's, but her smarts were from L.

Elle reminded L of Laine a lot and on several occasions, his heart ached for her. But the feelings were pushed away and he cared for Elle only. There was no way that he would let himself be taken advantage of again.

"_Open the door!" The pounding on the door brings Watari to answer it. A twenty year old with straight blonde hair stands in the doorway, a pink bundle in her arms. "Where is he?" she growls._

"_Ah, Miss Fitzpatrick, what brings you here?" Watari wonders, not stepping out of the doorway._

"_I want to speak to him. I have something for him."_

"_He is far too busy-"_

"_Then give this to him! I don't her!"_

_She holds out the bundle to Watari, Laine's eyes red from crying._

"_Miss Fitzpatrick, I must insist that we cannot-"_

"_You take this… thing! Or else I'll drop it." Her eyes were ablaze with anger._

_Watari hesitates and because of that, L had the opportunity to walk up to them. "Laine, what are you doing here?" L wonders, not looking surprised._

"_L," Laine said, staring him in the eye. "I cared for you. I really did." She shakes her head. "But I can't have a child. I-I-" She starts to cry and pulls the bundle to her. Wiping her sleeve over her eyes, she gazes at L again. "I'm twenty years old and still in college. And I know that you would want to raise this… girl with me if I kept it and stayed with you. So, take her. Or else I'll drop her and leave her where I please. She'll die."_

_L's face was blank. For several moments, he only looks at the pink blanket in Laine's arms, then, very slowly, he nods._

"_Very well, Laine. Since you leave me no choice…" He does it. He agrees and so, she places the bundle in his arms._

"_Thank you," she chokes out, and then she flees the scene, leaving a now crying baby in her wake._

L's eyes closed slowly and his conscious began to fade as he thought about when he chose her name.

_Laine runs from the scene, sobbing. Watari closes the door and turns to look at L. "Ryuzaki, you didn't have to do that," Watari says as L carefully places the child on the couch. She is old enough to sit up on her own and now she stares at L. L stares back at her, carefully examining the girl with interest._

"_Watari, I couldn't have let her die," he said after a moment, tentatively reaching out and touching one of the girl's tiny black pigtails. The girl smiles and grabs his hand. He lets her for a moment before she drops his hand and begins observing for something more entertaining._

"_We can take her to the Wammy House then. She doesn't need to stay-"_

"_Watari," L says forcefully, causing the older man to fall silent. After a moment, he continues, "Growing up at the Wammy House is a tough environment. I don't want her growing up with all the competition. She's my child and… I don't want to give her up."_

"_Ryuzaki, this is dangerous for both her and yourself-"_

"_I am aware of this Watari, but no one shall know. We can keep this a secret."_

_Watari doesn't comment. Instead, he asks, "What are you going to call her?"_

_L thinks for a moment, then suggests, "Elle. Elle Ryuzaki."_

_Watari nods and gets to his feet. "I'll get things for Elle then, Ryuzaki."_

_L nods, standing and picking up the small girl, who giggles and grabs a fist full of hair._

Elle woke with a start and disturbed L from his dream. She yawned widely and stretched out her arms. L watched her quietly, then asked, "Elle, would you like some breakfast?"

Standing, Elle smiled sleepily and said, "Yes, that would be great." Then, she started for the bathroom and closed the door. L stood up and walked over to the small kitchen. He knew nothing about cooking, but he was positive he'd be able to figure it out. So, he opened a cabinet and observed the items inside. Pancakes seemed easy enough, so he grabbed the box and studied the back. Then he tried to cook.

Elle watched her reflection for a moment and examined her face. Elle sighed and splashed some water onto her face, then focused on getting ready for the day.

#

#

Sayu worked to get ready early in the morning and hoped she could convince her mother to take her to school early. A few lies and hopefully, she'd be there. After scrambling together a vague excuse, Sayu told her Mother, "I'm going to need to be dropped off. A friend of mine at school needs help with some school work."

Sachiko frowned, looking away from the newspaper. "Who are you studying with? You said none of your friends would ever need help." For a moment, Sachiko was like herself. It nearly made Sayu smile.

"It's my new friend, Near. He's having some difficult time jumping into the program." Now the guilt was crept in.

"I don't think you should," Sachiko began, "You were just grounded-"

"I'll take an extra week of groundings if I need to. Please, Mother, he really needs help."

After a moment, Sachiko sighed. "All right, then we'll leave in ten minutes."

Sayu brightened and hugged Sachiko. "Thanks so much!"

Sachiko smiled after a moment. "You're welcome. Now, if this boy needs help again, bring him home after school." She gave Sayu a warning look. "Just make sure to tell me when. I don't want you two home alone."

Sayu made a face. "Mother, don't go through that talk again. I got it the first time," Sayu whined.

Sachiko smiled. "Go get ready, Sayu." With a nod, Sayu walked out of the room and quickly got ready.

After both her and Sachiko piled into the car, they pulled away from the driveway to the school. Sayu had never been there so early; it was kind of creepy, even with the lights on. But she got out of the car as if the school looked just fine. Sayu even waved as her mother backed out.

Once Sachiko had pulled away, Sayu turned back to the school, nervous, but she continued to the building. She walked up to the steps of the school, reaching for the door handle. However, as she did, she felt someone grab her shoulder. Instinct took over and she spun around, lashing out at whoever it was behind her.

Near caught her hand calmly and let go as soon as Sayu realized it was him. "I'm sorry, Near, I didn't mean to…"

"It's all right," he answered and started down the stairs. Sayu stared after him, confused. He sensed her stare, turned around, and gazed at her. "We aren't going to talk her, Sayu," he said softly, turning to look around. "I can't have anyone overhearing us."

"I can't skip school!" Sayu said, but she noticed her feet continued to carry her.

"We'll be back before school starts. I'll buy us some breakfast." Near didn't look back at her and continued to walk down the walk. Sayu caught up with him. They walked on in silence, Sayu unsure if she can bring anything up.

"Can I suggest a place?" Sayu asked after a moment. Near nodded and looked at her.

"Where are we going then?"

"I was thinking _Dragon's Brew. _It's a really great coffee shop not far from here."

Near nodded again and continued on walking. Sayu fell silent, speaking quietly when to turn somewhere. Eventually, they ended up at the bright-lit coffee shop and walked in. Sayu smiled at the owner, which Near noted with quiet interest.

Sayu slipped into a booth. Near sat across from her. They didn't get a chance to speak at all; a pretty blonde waitress appeared with two menus. "Hello," she smiled, "I'm Asami, your waitress today. Do you have an idea of what you want or do you need a few moments to look over the menu?"

"We'll take a few minutes," Sayu said with a stiff smile. Near noticed instantly Sayu didn't seem fond of the waitress.

As Asami walked away, Near asked Sayu, "Why don't you like her?"

Sayu looked at him startled. "Was it obvious?" she squeaked nervously. Near shook his head. Sayu sighed and explained softly, "When I was about seven, she lived near our house and made fun of me every day. I'm kind of surprised she hasn't recognized me."

Near nodded and silently looked over the menu. Sayu didn't touch hers. Instead, she watched Near until he finally looked up.

"You want me to talk about Kira already." She nodded, uncomfortable he could read her so easily.

"Just tell me you're going to look for him. I need to know because… I want to chase after him too."

At this Near looked at her, confused. _The confused expression on his face is cute, _Sayu thought, then realized what she thought, and felt heat rise to her cheeks. Thankfully, Near took it as a sign she was embarrassed how she burst out about Kira.

Near quickly composed himself, but he couldn't say anything because the waitress came back. They both ordered, then handed in their menus. Near waited until she had completely disappeared, then said, "Sayu, to chase after Kira… is extremely dangerous. I wouldn't be allowed to bring you on my investigation."

"How do you get on? You're my age!" Sayu glared at him, daring him to object.

"I didn't grow up with a family like Sayu," he answered carefully. Near looked up at Sayu, who had a surprised expression on her face. "I was raised in an Orphanage, where we were bred to be… detectives." He had to be careful he didn't say anything about L.

It seemed, for once, while Sayu stared at him, she didn't give him a look of pity. Instead, she smiled and asked, "So, does that mean you have a foster family?"

Near shook his head. Her smile dropped instantly and her eyes held a look of apology. "I left for a while. I told them I wanted to begin my own detective work. They'll allow me back in when I'm up to it."

Sayu nodded, observing him with quiet interest. "…Do you have a place to stay?"

Near nodded. "The Orphanage provided a small home. I share with many other people, but…" Near shrugged, as if this was a normal thing that happened to everyone.

Sayu brightened suddenly. "You could move into our house!"

Near frowned. "What do you mean?"

She explained situation; Light was gone from the house and her mother had already thought about renting out the room before. "This way, you'll be able to come to school with me instead of staying with all those other people you don't know!"

Sayu liked the idea very much, but it seemed that Near was not so thrilled.

"I can't do that, Sayu," he said, as the waitress walked up. She handed them their drinks and walked off again to serve different customers. After a moment, he continued, "I need to stay hidden and if I'm at your home-"

"But it's only my mother and I. It's not a big deal. My brother and father aren't around anymore! You'd basically be alone."

Near stared at Sayu, for once in his life, unsure what to say.

#

#

Elle ate the pancakes, nodding her approval. L nodded in return and took his own bite. His reaction was not so well.

L had made pancakes, but Elle had insisted on making some for her father as well. Her father's pancakes were light brown and buttery delicious. Hers? They were slabs of black. And watching her father struggle to eat the pancakes made her fall into a fit of giggles. "You don't have to eat the pancakes, Father," she said after a moment. "You can have some of mine."

L nodded, sliding the plate away as if it were dangerous. "Yes, it seems you still can't pick up on cooking, Elle. Of course, your mother wasn't…" L suddenly trailed off. Elle had quit eating, surprised. He never talked about her mother.

"Do you still have contact with her?" Elle looked up at L, not expecting an answer.

He surprised her by saying, "No, Elle, I haven't heard from her since she dropped you with me. I moved too quickly for her to know where I was or when I left."

Elle nodded silently.

It wasn't long before they both finished eating and L stood up to look out the window. "Those of the Task Force will be here soon," he said softly, almost as if he was talking to himself. Elle watched her father quietly. After a moment, L turned around and asked, "Elle, can you go across the street and get my favorite sweets from the candy shop."

Elle nodded eagerly, jumping to her feet. As she took the money, he added, "And you can get some white chocolate. Just a small portion."

"Thank you, Father!" Elle grinned and hugged L tightly. He patted her head and had her leave with Watari.

They walked over quickly, and Elle began to scrounge around outside the shop first. They had some sweets on sale, quite a few her father enjoyed. So she began to collects those up. That's when she heard the voice.

"Watari?"

Elle looked up, first at Watari, then the beautiful dark blonde haired woman.

Watari stepped behind Elle first, protectively. Elle didn't see his eyes narrow. "Ms. Fitzpatrick. What are you doing here?"

Laine Fitzpatrick smiled at Watari, then at Elle with a smile. "I came to see Ryuzaki."

#

#

"Near, I _NEED _to do something with the Kira Case! Let me help you find clues." Sayu followed after Near, frustrated. They had eaten breakfast quickly, then they had headed back to school. Near had dropped the subject of moving in with Sayu and brought up the Kira Case.

Near was being stubborn; he didn't want her to help on the case. But it was also apparent to him Sayu really wanted to help. And she was so stubborn she wasn't going to change her mind either. So, he was stuck with her badgering the entire time until he either said yes or ignored her completely. Which he was trying to do at the time, but as you could well see, she was ignoring the fact she was being ignored.

He suddenly spun around and stared at Sayu, who was finally at loss for words. "What is it that keeps your mind on this case?" he asked, approaching her. For every two step he took, she took a step back. "Do you have a personal connection to the case? Did Kira kill someone you loved?"

"I-I-" Sayu cleared her throat. "My father, brother, and sister all work on this case. I'm just as smart as any one of them and I want to prove I can do something other than sit around with my mother." She had begun to look at the ground with every word she spoke.

It struck him then; she was sure that she wasn't as smart as everyone else in her family. And it made her scared. Just as he had felt when he'd shown up at the Wammy's House when he was six.

So, instead of telling Sayu once again she couldn't join, he sighed instead and mumbled, "Let me think about you joining."

Sayu grinned widely and hugged Near. "Thank you, so much Near!" she said and then let him go.

The bell rang then, signaling the beginning of school. Sayu and Near trudged up the stairs, silently filing behind the rest of the students.

**~Author's Note~**

**Thanks for all of the reviews! I'm still trying to work out this story fully and it seems Elle's going to play a somewhat major part of this story. I hope this will all satisfy you until the next chapter. Hopefully, it will be out quicker.**

**Again, thank you for reading!**

**XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX **


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Number three; you can't let any human being besides myself know you're working on the case," Near finished. Sayu, who had been staring at Near intently, nodded and scribbled down what he said. "Do you have to take notes?" Near wondered, looking slightly annoyed.

Sayu grinned sheepishly. "I have a photographic memory, but I have to make sure I remember everything!"

"Please tell me you used code at least."

"Of course." Near nodded and was silent for a moment.

Sayu took the opportunity to bring up a topic again. "Near, what do you say to moving into my home?"

Near sighed and blew away a piece of his hair. "Sayu, I can't be around your home. With L already on the Kira Case, I have no idea whether or not he would ever put wiretaps and cameras into your home. I can't have him discover I'm in Japan."

"Why is that such a bad thing?" Sayu asked, frowning. "I mean, he might try to stop you…" Sayu's eyes widened. "He has no idea you left the Orphanage."

Near nodded, picking up his pencil and scribbling down a few words. At the time, they were both in their own small corner in Study Hall, Sayu pretending to coach Near. Everyone else was too far to hear or too loud. Even so, Near was highly uncomfortable talking about it. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea. But Sayu had said she wouldn't be able to eat lunch with him, so he thought he could fill her in as much as possible before lunch.

Sayu was impatient, glancing at the clock frequently. Near understood why; time was never on anyone's side. They all had issues working with it.

"What if we meet up to 'study' in the afternoons until we come up with a better plan?"

Near observed Sayu's face for a few moments. "We can," he agreed eventually.

Sayu's face lit up in a smile, just as the bell rang. She groaned and began to gather up her stuff.

"Why can't you do lunch today?" Near wondered as he picked up his pile of books.

Sayu made a face. "My other friends want me to hang out."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"They're not as interesting as you or Elle."

Near nodded, noting the extra name, Elle. He'd ask about her later. Sayu grinned at Near.

"I'll talk to you later then, Near." Sayu hugged Near and left. As she left the room, Sayu paused and looked back, watching Near as he got together his own stuff. She smiled softly, just as she was attacked by Kamiko and Rika in a hug.

"What's taking you so long, Sayu?" Rika asked, then noticed exactly who it was Sayu was looking at.

"Oooh, do you like Near?" Kamiko pressed, a grin forming on her face. She had obviously caught onto her twin's thoughts.

Sayu rolled her eyes. "As if, Kamiko. I barely know the guy!"

"That doesn't mean you can't like him," Rika argued, tugging both girls along. "We should probably head over to Ai. She can get impatient."

Sayu nodded and followed after the twins. She didn't notice Near, who watched as she walked off.

#

#

Elle and Watari stood in the middle of the sidewalk, a woman standing not three feet away from him. Watari stood behind Elle, an arm protectively around her shoulder. Elle didn't seem to notice. "What could you need with Ryuzaki?" Elle asked, cocking her head to the side.

The woman crouched down so she was eyelevel with Elle. "Who are you, girl? Some orphan Watari found-?"

"Elle, why don't you go pay for these sweets? We need to head home."

When she started toElle could feel the woman's eyes on her back she walked into the store. After picking up a few other sweets, she went to the cashier and paid. Her eyes were on Watari and the woman the entire time she did this.

To Elle, it seemed they were arguing. Watari didn't seem to be listening to what she had to say; he was making only one movement that seemed to say "Go". The woman was fighting against his wish frantically and suddenly waved over towards Elle's direction. Watari's expression changed instantly.

"Thank you for coming," a man said to Elle, interrupting her train of thought. She smiled and began to walk out of the shop. Then she decided to watch what they were doing.

But it seemed the woman won the battle. She was smiling smugly at Watari, who was speaking on the phone. Elle decided to walk out, slightly disappointed.

"All right, Ryuzaki, I'll bring her up," Watari said. Elle walked up. Watari smiled at her, then said, "Elle, this is Laine Fitzpatrick. She was an old colleague of Ryuzaki."

"I don't remember you there with him ever, Elle," Laine smiled, tucking a lock of blond hair behind her ear.

"I've been with Ryuzaki for a little while now," Elle said, suddenly on guard. "When did you work with him?"

"I worked with him for about thirteen years ago," Laine smiled.

Watari interrupted them. "Ms. Fitzpatrick, we are required to take you to a different location then where Ryuzaki is stationed. I'll drive you there myself. Elle, Ryuzaki requires you to return to your room instantly."

"Why can't I go with?" she demanded.

"Ryuzaki would like to speak with Ms. Fitzpatrick before you have a chance to… get to know her." Watari glanced over at the hotel.

"All right," Elle sighed. She stepped away from the two grown-ups and began the long way to the hotel room. She'd travel down two blocks, cross the street, go down one more block, and head in through the back entrance of the hotel. She knew Watari didn't want her heading over there directly, not in front of Laine at least.

There was one question Elle had for her father.

Who was Laine?

#

#

"Oh, well, I need to go guys. I'll talk to you later!" Sayu said to her friends. She tried to escape early, but Hanako kept Sayu at their table longer still. Lunch was far from over and, while Sayu loved her friends, she wanted to see what Near was up to.

Her friends continued their conversation within moments after Sayu sat back down.

"Well, I was thinking we could meet up at the mall this weekend," Momo suggested. Then she flushed. "Oh, I forgot, you can't go, Sayu."

"Well, you should bring me back something if you go," Sayu smiled. She didn't mind the fact her friends didn't remember everything right away. In some ways, it was okay. Like when they were mad at her for leaving them for Elle once in a while. Well, now it was Near. But they didn't really care.

"Why do you want to go so early anyway, Sayu?" Ai pressed, leaning forward at their table. The conversation over the mall ceased. "Is it that new guy? You like him, don't you?"

"She says she doesn't," Kamiko answered, "but I don't believe that."

"I don't," Sayu defended. "But he's lost at school right now so I have to help him. The teacher ordered it."

"Right, use that excuse," Hanako said, rolling her eyes.

"You used a similar excuse about Kei too," Ai sighed. "Why can't you just admit you like… what's his name? Nick?"

"Near," Sayu corrected, frowning slightly.

"See, that's my point exactly," Ai continued. Then she grinned. "You know, if it's to go find him, then go ahead and leave. Follow your heart to this boy. He seems nice. Oh, better yet, invite him to lunch tomorrow!"

"That's a great idea!" Rika giggled.

"Go see him," Ai sighed, a dreamy expression on her face. "I mean, he _is _cute and if he has your attention, obviously he must be smart."

Sayu hesitated, then settled down in her seat. "I didn't want to go see him," Sayu said. "But more on this mall plan. What are you going to go for?"

It wasn't long before the conversation about Near passed and Sayu was able to slip into the shadows of the conversation. She was deep in thought over what her friends had said.

Haha, good joke! She didn't like Near. Sure, he was nice to talk to, interesting, smart, funny, and he smelled good… Sayu shook her head. Yeah, right. Her friends were so wrong. There was no way she liked him! But…

Sayu rolled her eyes and commented on Ai's comment about clothes selections at _Harajuku. _She should just forget the entire topic and focus on what her friends were talking about. Besides, she would see Near soon anyways. They could discuss the case then.

Before Sayu knew it, lunch was over. Eagerly, Sayu stood up and, with good byes to her friends, she walked off towards her next class. She already knew Near would head that way so there was no use in searching him out.

Sayu went to her locker instantly and started to gather things out. Just as she was reaching for her notebook, everything suddenly went black. Sayu let out a screech and tumbled back. She felt herself land on someone and quickly rolled to the side. She looked back and gazed confusedly at the person on the ground. "Elle?"

#

#

Elle opened the hotel room and stepped into the room. Her father was already slipping shoes on. He didn't even look up when he said, "Elle, please put the candy on the table."

"Father, who is Laine?" Elle asked as she slipped off her shoes.

"She was only a colleague."

"Are you sure? She made it seem like more," Elle pressed.

L looked up at Elle. "We have several things we are going to discuss when I return. The Task force meeting was cancelled today, so please settle in and do some schoolwork. Or read a novel, but don't touch any of the electronics… or the kitchen for that matter."

"I started the kitchen on fire once. Are you going to hold that against me forever?" Elle sighed, then frowned. "How long are you going to be gone for?"

"At the most, it will be four hours. Just don't do anything dangerous."

"All right, father," she said. Elle hesitated, then asked, "Why can't I come with?"

L had his back to her when he paused and answered, "I'd like to deal with this alone first."

"But why?"

"Elle." His tone had a note she recognized to well; don't push the subject. Elle huffed, but didn't ask anymore. In fact, she walked forward and hugged her father.

Now, neither of them were very touchy-feely people to begin with. So, Elle was surprised, as well as touched when her father returned to the hug. Then she felt a twinge of guilt that she quickly tried to push aside. "Tell me it all later then, father," she said as she stepped back. L nodded and smiled at his daughter. With a ruffle of her hair, he was gone.

Elle sighed and fiddled with a string on her sweatshirt. "Do I really want to head there?" she asked to herself in the quiet room.

She decided when she saw L's car pull away from the hotel. She slipped on a hat, a large sweater (one she had picked out for her father for Christmas), and headed out of the hotel room, towards her school. She needed to talk to someone about Laine; it just happened that was Sayu.

And Sayu was at school.

#

#

L stepped out of the car and turned to observe Matsuda. "Mr. Matsui, I'd appreciate if you wouldn't mention any of this to the other detectives," L said.

Matsuda nodded. "Do you want me to wait around, Ryuzaki?"

"No, Watari shall drive back to the headquarters."

"All right…" L turned away as Matsuda pulled away from the curb. He began to walk up towards the building, his exterior showing calm. On the inside, he was nervous. He hadn't seen Laine since she left Elle with him. He wouldn't take her back, nor would he allow her to take Elle. She was all he had that really mattered.

L stepped onto the elevator, mentally calculating the elevator. It was eight feet tall, four feet wide. There were three passengers, excluding himself. There was a little girl, about four, with her parents. The parents gave L a tentative smile as he stepped on. He nodded in return and reached into his pocket. Inside, his hand closed around a lollipop, which he proceeded to unwrap and pop into his mouth.

He noticed the girl was staring at him now, pouting slightly. Her expression was very similar to Elle's when he'd first eaten a lollipop in front of her. L smiled and asked the wife, "Does your child want one?"

The woman looked startled. "N-no, that's all right."

"But mommy," the girl whined, tugging at the woman's pants, "he has candy. Can't I have one?"

"No, darling, we'll give you one later," the man said, giving L a strange look. L shrugged, just as the elevator stopped. He stepped off without another look at the people on the elevator. He continued down the hall until he stopped at a hotel room labeled 719. With a deep breath, he knocked on the door. It opened a moment later. Watari nodded to L and stepped aside.

"Where is she, Watari?" L asked softly as he removed his shoes.

"She's in the living room."

L nodded silently. When he hesitated, Watari placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. That pushed L forward. He walked into the room and paused. Laine Fitzpatrick. She'd changed so much. Her hair was darker, longer. She was toned more and her face had lost any roundness he'd been used to.

She was leaned forward in the chair, silently observing the floor with her brown eyes. Her brows were furrowed together, deep in thought.

Suddenly, she looked up and met L's eyes. Laine's eyes widened and she stood up. "L-I mean Ryuzaki," she said, standing up.

L walked into the room stiffly. "Ms. Fitzpatrick."

Her eyes showed the slightly hurt he caused her just addressing her formally.

She asked, "Do we have to speak to each other formally?" Her voice wavered slightly.

"Ms. Fitzpatrick, I assume you're here for business, nothing more." L didn't meet her gaze.

"You haven't forgiven me?"

"If you aren't here for anything other than business, I shall end this meeting now." He didn't raise his voice, but it passed the message easily.

Laine swallowed. "I'm here about the child I gave you."

"She does not exist," L said, looking over at Laine.

"What did you do with her?"

"She is not your child. Why worry yourself with this knowledge? She does not even know you exist."

"That means you've kept in contact with our daughter. Or…" Her eyes widened. "It was her. The girl with Watari."

L's face put it all together. A smile worked on Laine's face. "Her name is Elle? She looks a lot like you."

"Ms. Fitzpatrick, do you have business or are you here for personal reasons? If it is the latter, then please, leave."

Laine sighed. "Truth be told, Ryuzaki, I'm here on business."

"How did you find us?"

"The FBI told me."

L looked over at Laine, eyes untrusting. She pulled out a badge. She was part of the FBI.

"Why did the FBI send you?"

"To help catch Kira."

#

#

"And that's why I'm here," Elle finished. Sayu nodded, her face grim.

"Still, whoever is Laine is, it shouldn't have brought you here. If you get caught-"

"I won't get caught," Elle argued, frowning.

"Well, Near is waiting for me at class. I should probably…"

"Who's Near?"

"Oh, he's just a friend of mine…"

Elle could tell Sayu didn't like talking about Near instantly.

"Ooh, is he cute?" Elle teased, bumping shoulders with Sayu. Sayu rolled her eyes.

"No, but he's interesting. He's smart like you," Sayu replied.

"You're smart too," Elle replied, frowning. "You're right behind me in class and that's only by a few points. That and the fact you don't turn in your schoolwork."

"How about we talk about this tonight when I come over to drop off your schoolwork?"

"Do you know if you'll even be able to? The meeting was cancelled today because of Laine!"

"I remember. Let me just talk to my father. I'm sure he still plans on dropping off the work."

Elle nodded. "We'll talk about it then."

"All right, but you should go soon-" Sayu was cut off by the warning bell. "I'll talk to you later, promise," she finished and ran off from Elle.

It didn't take Sayu more than a minute before she reached Algebra II. She slipped into her seat and took out her notebook to begin accessing the information Near gave her.

She paused and noticed Near walk into the room. She smiled at Near and buried her nose into the book. A smile tugged at her lips when she thought, _Near…_

__**~Author's Note~**

**Once again, thank you for all your reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!**

**XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX  
><strong>


	5. Chapter 4

**~Update 11/11/12: I realized there was a mix up in the old chapter four and made the corrections.~  
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**Chapter Four**

"Ms. Yagami, may I see you after class?" Sayu looked up at her teacher, confused, but she nodded. It was towards the end of Algebra and they had just finished up their test a little while ago. The teacher had already started grading tests. What had she done now? Sayu looked over towards Near, who wasn't that far away from her desk. He gave her a questioning look. She shrugged, then mouthed, 'Wait for me after class'. He nodded and continued to scribble notes in his notebook.

A few minutes later, the bell rang. Everyone began getting things together. Sayu quickly piled all of her stuff together, but left it on the desk to talk to the teacher. He was scribbling down a note on some paper. When she stepped in front of his desk, he looked up and took off his glasses. "Sayu, I need you to take this paper to your parents. I would like for them to schedule a meeting with me as soon as possible. We need to discuss your latest test."

"May I ask what about?" Sayu asked, nervous.

"It isn't anything bad. Please, just have them sign this paper and bring it back, please."

"All right, I will." She took the paper and walked back to her desk. She just spotted Near walking out of the door. She left quickly and found Near waiting just a few feet away. She smiled when she saw he spotted her. They began walking towards their next class.

Near seemed interested in what the teacher had wanted, but he didn't say anything to Sayu about. In fact, it was a little strange to be walking to class, but not saying anything. So Sayu said quietly, "The teacher wanted to talk to me."

"What did he want?" Near asked instantly.

Sayu spoke a little louder than before. "I'm not sure. He wants to meet with my parents to discuss my latest test."

"Was it a bad thing?"

"I asked that. He said it wasn't, but he wouldn't elaborate."

"He probably wants to move you up a class."

Sayu gave Near a funny look. "Yeah, right! I'm not that great."

"Then how is it I can have an interesting conversation with you and not worry that your knowledge will let down the conversation at any time?"

"…" Sayu was at loss for words. What could she say to that? "I'm not terribly smart."

"You're right," Near agreed then added something Sayu never thought she'd hear him say, "I believe you could be a genius."

Sayu couldn't help, but giggle. "There aren't many geniuses in the world. I'm not one of them. If you are looking for one, go to Elle. She's the smarter one."

"I've seen your records in school. You're brilliant. You may not turn in your work all the time, but that doesn't show how smart you are."

Sayu giggled. "You know, you could woo a lot of girls with the compliments you're throwing around."

Near gave Sayu a confused look. He said, "I'm just stating facts. Someone would know if I started complimenting them."

To Sayu's surprise, she felt a twinge of sadness, which confused her further. She mumbled something to Near about the bathroom and walked off. She didn't go to the bathroom, just continued to walk around until the warning bell rang again. She was a little far from her class, but she should make it in time. Sayu walked quickly to class, only running twice. She made it just before the final bell rang. Near was already sitting down. Sayu quickly took a seat next to him. Then the next lecture began.

School wasn't the same with Elle not there. Sayu wasn't able to daydream like she enjoyed doing, nor was she able to write things other than notes. Elle wasn't there to entertain Sayu either. She was always used to Elle writing notes, making rude, but funny comments about the teacher…

Suddenly, there was a note. Right on her desk. Confused, she discreetly opened the small piece of paper. It was from Near, in his weird, but cute writing. W_hy do you seem so bored?_

Sayu smiled and scribbled, _My friend used to entertain me during class. All the lecturing bores me._

She carefully slipped the note behind her, to Near's awaiting hand. A moment later, she felt the paper on her elbow. Sayu slowly took the note, while trying to look like she was paying attention. _Well what did you used to do?_

_She used to either write funny, mocking comments about the teacher or we would come up with some intellectual game._

The note passing continued. Near asked a few more questions, then started a game Sayu had never even heard about before. After explaining the basics, he started the game. It had to be more interesting than any games Elle had shown her. And it was the perfect thing to keep her busy until the end of class.

#

#

Elle was just beginning to sit down on the couch when she heard the door to the hotel room open. She quickly grabbed at the novel at the table and opened it to her page when she heard L saying, "We'll want to call the Task Force together tonight." He was speaking quietly with Watari, but Elle could understand him.

She pretended not to have heard. When L and Watari walked into the room, she looked up, as if expecting someone else. She smiled at L as soon as he saw she was looking and stood up. "How did the meeting with Laine go?" Elle asked.

"She's part of the FBI now. Laine is here to help with the Kira Case."

"What exactly is her history with you?" Elle questioned casually.

"She's an old colleague. She helped on several cases when she was younger."

"She acted like you two had more history than that."

"There wasn't any, Elle."

Elle hesitantly nodded. "Is the Task Force going to be meeting up later tonight? I know Sayu is supposed to bring my schoolwork and all…"

"Yes, the Task Force shall be meeting tonight as planned."

"Oh, okay." Elle snuggled down into the couch and started reading her novel again. She couldn't pay attention to the novel though. She was so curious about Laine… "Father, can I borrow your laptop?"

L, who had been looking at a few police files, gave Elle a long look. "You're grounded from electronics-"

"Yes, but I have a research project from science I wanted to get a head start on."

"I can tell when you're lying, Elle Alexandra Ryuzaki," L said sternly. He frowned at his daughter. "If your project is really so important, you can use the protected computer over there."

Elle nodded. "All right, that's fine, father. I'm highly offended you'd assume I was lying to you." She actually had wanted to look for her research AFTER she found the information she was looking for. But she could be patient. It was one of her virtues.

She walked over to the computer and turned it on. Within minutes, it loaded and she was on the internet, researching about different types of spiders for her science project. She knew her father would be watching, so she didn't waver from her project until she had almost all of her information. When she was done, she went back to the couch and started reading again.

L watched her quietly, unsure what she was really after.

#

#

It was close to the end of the day. Sayu and Near had been working together most of the morning, as they had gotten stuck together in a reading project. It was study hall and they were actually working together on the project. And having an intelligent conversation about the novel they decided to choose. It was a higher-up book and it was in English. Both of them knew English, but it still intrigued Sayu the different forms of writing compared to the Japanese version they were looking at. Near didn't know Japanese, so Sayu was helping him with it. She noticed he knew some, but not all of it.

"What languages do you know?" Sayu asked.

Near thought for a moment, "There's English, obvious, and Russian, Latin, German, Spanish, French, Chinese, and I was currently studying Japanese when I started the Kira Case."

"Well, Japanese is my specialty, so I could help tutor you in the language," Sayu offered.

Near nodded. "That would be nice." Sayu smiled.

"We could meet up after school like every other day or so at my house. My mom wants me to bring study friends home," Sayu said.

"We could make a schedule during lunch tomorrow."

"Awesome." She couldn't help, but grin. After a moment, Near gave a weird, awkward smile. Sayu started to giggle. "Are you just not meant to smile or something?"

Near rolled his eyes. "So what does the next passage say in Japanese?"

"Here, tell me what you can read." Near took a look.

"I can read _issen, _but that's about it."

"You hadn't gotten very far in your Japanese did you?" Sayu asked, smiling.

"No, I did not," he said shortly. The awkward look on his face made him look… well adorable! Okay, Sayu couldn't help it. Just those few cute looks that passed his face just looked adorable. It didn't mean she liked him. She thought children were adorable, so it didn't mean anything if she thought Near looked adorable.

Sayu offered, "Here, I'll help you read this passage." Then they proceeded for the rest of the hour studying the Japanese in the book. Sayu could tell it was coming naturally to Near. He picked up the Japanese quickly.

Just as class was ending, Sayu had written down in a notebook a list of Japanese words and phrases. She told Near, "Study these and we can review them tomorrow. Well, do you want to come over to my house tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow works well," Near agreed. "Will I just come over right after school?"

"If mother agrees, then yes. She's been picking me up every Wednesday."

"Here, I'll give you my phone number in case it won't work. I'll need a little bit of a heads-up if it won't."

"Oh… okay." The sudden happy feeling that filled Sayu highly confused and she couldn't help, but give a cute, small smile at Near. But he didn't see it. He was ruffling through his backpack for some spare paper.

Sayu looked down at her notebook and offered, "You can just write down the number in my notebook." The bell rang right after that.

"Oh, thanks," Near said, taking Sayu's notebook. They both picked up they're stuff and started walking out into the hall. While they did that, Near was scribbling down the numbers in the back page of Sayu's notebook. "And then you can just call whenever you know the answer."

"Yeah, I'll call you just then," Sayu mumbled, slipping the notebook into her pile of stuff to go into her locker.

Near watched Sayu carefully for a moment. "I'm not saying you can't just call whenever. You can always do that too."

Sayu shrugged. "If I have any time, maybe I will. I just get so busy trying to compare myself and my grades to my brother's and sister's."

Near shook his head. "If you don't try so hard, it will be much easier to look as smart. It's why when you push yourself so much that you get tired of even trying in school. Just do what you can. Everyone will be more proud of you then."

Sayu smiled at Near. "That's sweet of you to say."

This time Near shrugged. "I only state what's true. I don't just 'say' things."

A grin formed on Sayu's face. "So what are you doing this afternoon anyway?" she asked as she started walking for her locker.

"Just more research on the case and schoolwork obviously. I can't let up on my cover."

Sayu nodded. She quickly grabbed her backpack and turned back to Near. As they started towards his locker, Sayu continued about the Japanese.

As they got to Near's locker, he interrupted her and quietly said, "I have a favor to ask."

Sayu paused and looked at him. "What do you need?"

"First I need to know if you're ever around the Kira Case." After a moment, Sayu nodded. "Then I have a plan I need you to do. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Sayu nodded. "I can do that. May I ask what that could be about."

Near told her, "I want you to place wire taps and cameras around the meeting places. I'll give the full details tomorrow about the plan."

Sayu nodded hesitantly. "I don't think that would work. They move from place to place every few days."

"We'll come up with a plan," Near said. He slammed the locker door shut and slung his bag over his shoulder.

Just as they started towards the front of the school, Sayu quit walking and stared at a figure in front of her. The figure waved at Sayu. Sayu grinned widely and ran towards the beautiful woman. Near followed after, but could hear from far enough away as Sayu said, "Hitomi, I haven't seen you for so long, sister!"

#

#

"Ryuzaki, you have a phone call," Watari said.

L paused the video he was watching and looked back at Watari. L gave Watari the 'look'. When Watari nodded, L sighed and said, "Bring the phone here, Watari." Elle looked over at her father and then at Watari.

"Don't mind yourself at all, Elle," L said, then stood up once he had the phone in his hand, and walked out of the room. Watari went back to looking through a laptop. Elle hesitated. Watari was distracted and her father wouldn't know… Elle stood up quietly and, glancing at Watari, walked to the room L was in.

She pressed her ear against the door. She could hear her father clearly.

This is about how the conversation went. "Laine, this isn't in discussion... No, we won't either, now-… She won't be to any of the meetings… Why? Because if somehow Kira is in these meetings, I won't have him anywhere near her… No, this isn't discussable." He was quiet for a long time. "You won't be able to get a case. You left-… If this starts up, I won't allow you near this case. The FBI can send someone else who won't be emotionally involved-"

Elle didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation for Watari came over and had placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped away from the door, guiltily. Watari signalled for Elle to follow. They both walked out to the living room. "Have a seat at the table, Elle," he said. Elle did. Watari brought over a cup. "What did you hear?" he asked her. Watari began getting tea ready.

Elle shrugged. "I'm not sure. It was Laine, but they were arguing about someone… I don't know." Elle hesitated. "Father says Laine was just a colleague… but it feels like more to me."

"They were only colleagues on a few cases, yes, but Laine was smart and L could sense that. So he also used her for references for other cases of his"

Elle nodded, intrigued. "So did she end up as like some sort of secret love of father's or what?"

"No, none of that. Your father is strictly professional as you well know." Elle nodded.

"Yes, but father gets so passionate with her. It was her on the phone and when she mentioned someone, he got extremely passionate about the argument."

"It's about you, Elle."

Elle looked at Watari, surprised. Watari had always been honest with her, but she never imagined he would be this honest. "Why are they arguing about me?"

"Laine knew your mother. She thinks it would be right for your mother to see you. L doesn't think otherwise." The pot began to screech, telling Watari the water was ready. He got the pot, poured two glasses of warm water and set the tea bags into the water.

He brought the glasses over to the table and sat down across from Elle. Elle scooped some sugar into her tea and stirred the water. "What do you remember of my mother?" Elle asked quietly.

"She was extremely smart. It's the only way your father would have liked her to begin with. She was about twenty, a little younger than your father. Going to school and studying to be a detective. Your father had brought her on one case because he needed eyes and ears inside the college. She was the smartest girl there, so he asked her."

"Was she pretty?" Elle questioned, her eyes wide. She was already leaning forward, sipping on her tea and taking a few sugar cubes to eat too.

"Yes, very. Her hair was golden blonde, beautiful. A little bit of a round face and childlike eyes. I believe your father liked her especially for her childlike features. She wasn't quite ready to grow up, you could tell, but she took on the responsibilities all the same."

"What features do I have that's hers?"

"Not much. You took more of your father's genetics. But your nose and lips are definitely hers. The shape of your eyes is hers too."

"What was her name?"

"Elle, we don't discuss her name. I can give you a little information, but since she left you with us, both L and I have agreed that she shall not be spoken of, her name especially. Not only did she abandon you, but she left your father heartbroken too."

Elle fell silent. Watari did as well. Eventually, Elle said, "What was the case they worked on together?"

Watari began explaining the case in full details. It was at the college. It was a simple drug chain, but L knew the case would lead him to a man he had been hunting down for years. It was one of the few cases L had a hard time cracking. The man was Rabot, leading a large gang that ended up spreading through most of the U.S. country. All L could figure out was Rabot's main headquarters were in Washington. He had concluded Rabot was brilliant and so was the rest of his gang. L could find little information of Rabot, but what he did find only proved to make his case harder. Once the man was eighteen, he completely slipped off the grid. L could only hope that this small group could lead him to Rabot.

"I haven't heard of this case before," Elle said, frowning.

"Your father has it on file still, but he doesn't associate with it nor discuss it with anyone. He gave all the glory to your mother."

Elle asked a question she had been dreading and dying to know. "Why did she leave me with father? I mean, I'm grateful she did, but… why did she?"

Watari nodded, sighing. "She said, she was too young to have a child. She needed to finish college and she didn't want you. She even threatened to leave you somewhere to die if we didn't take you. L did what any great father would. He took you in."

Elle nodded, hurt. She couldn't believe her mother would do that… if she was so smart, she could've still taken care of a kid... "Thanks for tell me this, Watari," Elle said, sighing.

"Your mother was a good person, but I told you, she wasn't one for commitments. She was still too childish. I know she wants to meet you now, get to know you, and try to help raise you-"

"I don't want anything to do with her!" Elle said angrily, pushing her chair away. "If she cares this much, she should have kept me to begin with. I don't want anything to do with her."

Elle stormed out of the kitchen to the other hotel room. She closed the connecting doors with a slam.

Watari looked at the door and sighed. He had said too much. And he saw that on L's face when he walked into the room.

The room was silent for a time while Watari cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. "Would you like any tea, Ryuzaki?" Watari asked L.

L shook his head. "No thank you, Watari. But your right; she wants something to do with Elle. She's threatening to expose Elle if I don't let her near her. I need to get Elle out of here and quick. There's only one way to do it."

"You're going to move her to a different home," Watari stated.

L nodded. "Yes, and there's only one person's home I can trust."


	6. Chapter 5

**IMPORTANT: About chapter four, I realized the mistake I did about the timing of the day and fixed it so it worked better. Hitomi is picking up Sayu after school instead. Thank you for your understanding ~XmX  
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**Chapter Five**

Sayu let go of her sister, Hitomi, and smiled brightly at the older woman. "I haven't seen you in so long. How are you?"

Hitomi grinned at Sayu. "I've been pretty busy between cases and college," Hitomi explained, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Sayu saw her look over Sayu's shoulder and Sayu turned to Near, who looked awkward.

"Oh, Hitomi, this is Near," Sayu explained. "Near, this is Hitomi, my sister." Hitomi was a beautiful woman with light brown hair, layered and curled lightly down to nearly her waist. She wore a fluffy black skirt with black and white striped leggings, and a white tank top and dark blue overjacket.

Near nodded, but didn't offer his hand. Hitomi just smiled and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Near." Then she turned to Sayu. "Well I was going to see if you wanted a ride home today. I thought it would be nice for the two of us to grab a snack and then head over to Mother and Father's place afterwards. You know, to catch up and stuff."

Sayu grinned widely. "That would be great! I can't be too late though, because I have to go to a friend's house later." Sayu looked back at Near and then to her sister. "How about I meet you outside in five minutes, Hitomi? Near and I need to finish discussing a few things if that's all right."

Hitomi smiled and kissed her forehead. "Of course you can. I'll just be waiting in the car. I have a meeting at seven anyways. The meeting was cancelled to begin with, but my boss called it back on."

Sayu smiled. "Okay, Hitomi."

Hitomi smiled and said to Near, "It was great to meet you."

"The pleasure was mine," Near said stiffly. He was glancing around a lot suddenly.

Hitomi nodded one last time and then disappeared out the doors. Sayu turned back to Near with a sheepish smile. "Sorry about my sister," Sayu said.

"It's fine. I'll need to leave soon too. We'll discuss the details tomorrow and you'll call me tonight if your mother says it's all right for studying tomorrow."

Sayu nodded and smiled at Near. "Well, I guess I'll be leaving then. If you want more information about the case, I can always talk to Elle. Her father is part of it."

Near nodded. "You can mention it to her. Just don't mention me."

Sayu smiled and hugged Near. When she let go, Sayu gave one last smile and said, "Bye, bye Near," and with a twiddle of her fingers, she was gone.

As soon as she was out of the building, Sayu saw Hitomi's car and walked over to it. When she got into the car and buckled up, Hitomi said, "He seems like a nice kid, Sayu."

Sayu shrugged and turned up the warm air a little. "So, how is college going?" Sayu asked, looking over at her.

Hitomi smiled and told Sayu, "If you don't want to talk about your boyfriend, that's fine."

Sayu flushed red and glared lightly at her sister. "He's not my boyfriend. Near is new to the school and I'm the first one to actually get to know him. That's all."

Hitomi smiled. "If that's what you'd like to tell yourself, little sister. Well, then how's school going?"

"It's going good, but my math teacher wants to meet with my parents. I'm not sure why."

"Did he say it was a bad thing?" Hitomi asked.

Sayu shook her head. "He said it wasn't bad, but he wouldn't give any more details either."

Hitomi nodded. "Did Near have anything to say?" Sayu told her what they discussed. "I think he's on the right track," Hitomi agreed. "The teacher would need _Otou-san_ and _Okaa-san_'s permission to move you up a grade."

"But I haven't been doing great in school-"

"That doesn't mean you aren't smart. How much to you want to bet that you scored a hundred on your math test, which is why the teacher wants to move you up."

Sayu hesitantly nodded her agreement. Before she could comment, her phone started to ring. She flipped it open. It was her father. She answered and asked, "What do you need, _Otou-san_?" She always picked up on the Japanese when Hitomi was around.

"I know Hitomi picked you up, but I need you home now. She's needed to. Our lead detective on the case called an emergency meeting at our home."

Sayu nodded and said, "I'll tell her. Bye."

"Yeah." Soichiro hung up.

Sayu did also and told Hitomi, "We need to go around. _Otou-san_ said the lead detective on your case called an emergency meeting at the house-?"

Hitomi glanced at Sayu. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Hitomi nodded and quickly changed directions. "I'm sorry our plans were changed, Sayu," Hitomi said, flipping on the radio. Sayu nodded.

"It's not a big deal," she said softly. After a moment, Sayu asked, "Is it the same case _Otou-san_ is on?"

After a moment, Hitomi nodded. Sayu nodded thoughtfully. "It's the Kira Case, right?"

"Yes," Hitomi answered, glancing again at Sayu.

Sayu smiled. "The lead detective is L, isn't he?"

Hitomi frowned and looked at Sayu. "That isnt' general public information. How did you get it?"

"It's rumors everywhere, sister. How wouldn't I know? I'm just as smart as you or Light."

Hitomi smiled. "I know, but it's a shock still. I mean, you're only fourteen..."

"There's no need to treat me like such a little kid."

Hitomi nodded. Hitomi was distracted, so Sayu took the time and pulled out the notebook with Near's number and quickly put the number into her phone.

"We'll have to make new plans for later, Sayu," Hitomi told her younger sister. Sayu nodded absently, quickly typing out, _'H is part of K.C.' _She figured Near would understand the text and made a mental note to pull together a cipher for them to use later.

Sayu's phone buzzed and she opened the text. _'How involved?'_

_'Quite. There's an emergency meeting at home,' _Sayu typed back.

This is about how the talk went after that.

_N: 'Really?... Do you really want to get involved in this case?'_

_S: 'Yes'_

_N: 'Then I need you to listen in.'_

_S: 'Of course. And we need a "C".'_

_N: 'I figured.'_

_S: 'I'll tell you what I find out tonight. Record too.'_

_N: 'Good.'_

Sayu figured that would be enough for messaging, but she got another message from Near a minute later. _'Do you know how to hack?'_

_S: 'Mostly.'_

_N: 'Then you'll need to get into the cellphone recorders later and erase these messages until we have a 'c'._

_S: 'I'll get on it tonight'_

_N: 'Good bye Ms. Yagami'_

_S: 'To you also, Mr... well... Near.'_

Sayu closed her phone, noticing Hitomi's curious look. "What?" Sayu asked, smiling slightly.

"Are you messaging Near?" Hitomi asked, grinning.

After a moment, Sayu nodded. "Can you not mention him to anyone? I don't want _Otou-san _getting on my case about this yet."

"Of course I won't, sister," Hitomi grinned.

Sayu just smiled back.

#

#

Elle was sitting on the sofa in the hotel room, attempting to hack her father's computer with her phone. She had no idea if she could manage to get into his deeper files of his computer. She could barely get on to the desktop of the computer with the stupid piece of crap phone. Elle _needed _to find the file of her mother.

Reluctantly, Elle quit trying and sat still, sifting through her mind. It was the first urge she had to try to understand her mother. But she wanted to know why exactly her mother left. She never had a mother's intuition. Or the love of a mother. She wanted it terribly right then. It was so confusing. And now, she wanted to understand why her mother would abandon her with her father. She needed to connect somehow.

The connecting door opened and L walked in. Elle didn't pay attention to it and just continued to stare at her hands. L stepped over to the couch and sat beside Elle. Finally, she looked up at him. L looked back, his face blank.

"What's bothering you, Elle?" L asked quietly. She just shrugged.

"Why are you here?" she questioned back. "I know you have more important things than talking to me for no reason."

L frowned. "Is this about your conversation with Laine?"

"She knew my mother?"

L just stared back at her. "Watari told you this?" Elle nodded. L sighed. "Do you want to meet her?"

"No!" Elle bit her lip. "Not in person. I don't want her to try to think she can just come into my life after she left me. But I want to know why she did it."

"I could tell you myself, Elle."

"It's different, father," Elle murmured.

"I understand." L sighed and stood up. "Would you like something to drink?"

Elle looked at L suspiciously. "Okay, what is it you're not telling me?"

After a moment, L sat down on the couch again. Elle stared back at him, unsure what to make of the situation. "Laine is threatening to expose you. She wants to try to... _blackmail _me." He said the word as if it were poison. Elle understood. "She wants your mother to meet you."

"I'm going to a safe house? Is there even one around here?"

L shook his head. "There is no safe house. So I had to find accommodations for you."

Elle shook her head. "I won't go away, father. I've been fine before."

"Elle, this is Kira. If Laine does do this, you dying is a high probability. I can't risk that."

"What about my insomnia?" Elle asked, growing concerned. "The doctor said if my methods to sleep were disrupted"

"It could make the insomnia worse," L finished. "I know, but you can come up with alternatives."

Elle shook her head. "I'm not going," she said stubbornly and folded her arms in front of her.

"This is not negotiable," L said sternly. "I'm your father and I'm allowed to make these kinds of decisions. If you must, we can contact Sara and you can talk with her while you're away-"

"I don't need a psychologist. They're ways are bull," Elle snapped. It didn't surprise L. Laine had the same attitude.

"I think it would be best while you're away," L said stiffly and stood up. "You're going to get packed up. You're moving tonight, after the meeting."

Elle glared at her father. "Where am I being forced to?"

To this, L smiled. "There was one household I could trust during this time. You'll be going to Sayu's house."

Elle was so surprised, she didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure to be happy that she would be spending time with Sayu or to be mad at her father for sending her away. After a moment, she asked, "Will I get to see you at all?"

L nodded. "I told Soichiro to bring you over during the weekends since I will not have Laine around."

Elle nodded hesitantly. "Okay. I'll get ready then... Just don't make this too long, father," Elle told her father and, for the second time in a long while, she hugged her father again.

He hugged her as well and, after a moment, suggested, "Why don't you call Sayu to talk to her about it?"

"Okay," Elle nodded and smiled. "I can live being away during the weekdays."

L nodded. "Good. I'll leave you to the packing and I'll let you take a laptop with."

To this, Elle broke out into a smile. "Which one?"

"Any you'd like that I'm not using for the case. I'll let you choose."

"Thank you father!" She hugged her father again and then let go. "I'll have everything ready in a few moments. Can I have my phone reactivated now?"

L nodded. "I'll have Watari do it immediately. As soon as it's on, give Sayu a call." Then L was gone. Elle sat back down on the couch and leaned back into the soft back. All she wanted to do was curl up and sleep, but she got up and started packing.

When she was finishing packing up her bags, Elle's phone beeped and she tapped the touch screen. The message '_Your phone is in use' _popped up. She grinned and dialed Sayu's number.

#

#

Hitomi and Sayu arrived at the Yagami Household within minutes. Hitomi got out first and went straight for the house. Sayu grabbed her schoolbag and started after Hitomi. When Sayu walked into her home, Hitomi was already being greeeted by Sachiko and Soichiro. Soichiro looked ready to burst from whatever it was he was hiding. Sayu quickly greeted her parents while they talked with Hitomi and then headed upstairs. She dropped her backpack on the floor and went to her wall of cubbies. She pulled open the first one from the third shelf and pushed aside all the panties, exposing the expensive recorder. She had gotten it for her birthday last year when she was on the newspaper club.

She easily set up the recorder on her way down the steps and stepped into the front hall. She could hear them in the kitchen already. Pressing record, she snuck up to the room.

"Sachiko, I just need Hitomi alone for a few minutes," Soichiro said.

After a moment's pause, Sachiko said, "I have the right to hear the conversation. When... what was his name?"

"Ryuzaki," Hitomi answered.

Sachiko continued, "When Ryuzaki called he said anyone of the family could be here as well. I wish to be present."

Sayu could hear Sochiro sigh. "Sachiko, I don't want you put into danger."

"I'm staying," Sachiko said, sounding more resiliant than she had in a long time. It made Sayu smile.

After a moment, Soichiro agreed. As he did, the phone rang. Soichiro's phone. Instantly, he answered. "Hello?"

"Ah, Mr. Yagami, I'm glad you answered so soon."

"Watari, what was this meeting Ryuzaki called so suddenly?" Soichiro inquired.

"First, I'd like to ask who is there?"

"Hitomi, as Ryuzaki requested, and my wife as well. Ryuzaki said she could be present and she has decided to," Soichiro answered.

After a moment, this man named Watari asked, "What about your daughter, Sayu?"

"She's upstairs at the moment," Soichiro answered.

"Very well. What I am about to tell you is classified information. There's only three people who know about this and you cannot, under any circumstances, share this information."

"We won't," Hitomi answered, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Ryuzaki has a daughter."

The silence that was suspended after this announcement lasted a while. After a moment, Soichiro asked, "Was she the girl you picked up earlier at the _Dragon's Brew?_"

"Yes."

The shock Sayu felt was so huge she gasped slightly. Was that Elle?

"Ryuzaki had said she was only a orphan you two were looking after for a short while."

Watari sighed. "Yes, I know he did. He's been trying to keep her identity quiet. If any one of Ryuzaki's enemies realized he had a daughter-"

"She'd be used as a bargaining chip," Hitomi finished quietly.

After a steady silence, Soichiro asked, "Why are you sharing this information with us?"

"Elle, as you know her name already, was confronted by her mother, although she does not know this. Her mother is threatening to expose her if Ryuzaki did not let her see Elle. Elle does not even want to see her own mother and Ryuzaki doesn't want to open up a wound for both him and Elle by bringing this woman into their lives. So he needs to move her. To keep her identity safe and, in the end, protecting her from the problems this could cause. Ryuzaki believes the only way to keep her safe is to let her stay at your house."

"You want her to stay here?" Sachiko asked, finally speaking something.

"Yes. Ryuzaki wishes to discuss the rest of the arrangements tonight after this meeting. You shall take Elle home with you afterwards."

Soichiro asked Sachiko, "What are your thoughts on this?"

"Well, if she needs a place to stay to protect her, why stop her from staying here? We can take her in," Sachiko answered instantly.

"We'll take her in then," Soichiro told Watari.

"Very well. Ryuzaki wishes me to share a few details now. One, he does not wish that Light Yagami is aware of who Elle's parents are. And two, he will give funding for food and clothes and the sorts. He figured 80000 yen would be sufficent per month."

Sachiko gasped. "That much? I think that is a little overboard-"

"Ryuzaki wants you to hold on to Elle's funds, but as long as she asks for it, she can spend it at will. Ryuzaki has all the money planned out for what she can spend it on and of course, a part will go for the groceries for your entire family, Mrs. Yagami. Please do not argue with these arrangements."

After a moment, Sachiko agreed. Watari finished by saying, "The meeting will be at seven o'clock at the same area. Matsui will come with you."

"All right, Watari," Hitomi and Soichiro said and then they all hung up.

For a moment, the kitchen was silent. Then Sachiko asked, "Would anyone like some tea?"

Hitomi and Soichiro asked for some and then Hitomi said, "Why don't I go ask Sayu? We should probably share this information with her."

Soichiro nodded. "Yes, that would be best. Why don't you go get her?"

Hitomi's response was her chair scooting back. Instantly, Sayu was on her feet and running lightly for the stairs. She hit the end button of the recorder as she made it to the top of the stairs. She made it to her room and managed to hide the recorder when Hitomi knocked on her door.

"One second!" Sayu called. She closed the cubby and then opened the door. Hitomi stood at the entrance, smiling.

"_Okaa-san _was wondering if you wanted some tea?"

"That would be wonderful," Sayu said cheerfully. "Should I come down?"

"I think that would be good," Hitomi answered. She smiled and offered her hand for Sayu to take. Sayu did so instantly, relishing in her old memories of when she was younger. As they walked down the stairs, Sayu asked, "Did father and you have that meeting?"

"Yes. Luckily, _Otou-san_ and I can share this information with you," Hitomi said with a smile.

"Oh that's intriguing," Sayu said. Unfortunately, it wasn't as much of a surprise knowing the information, but it felt good knowing the whole story instead of part of it. She never realized how much fun spying was when it was a real case. Of course she played spy games as a child, but she had never done it on one of her father's cases. It was so much fun.

When they were right next to the kitchen, Sayu let go of Hitomi's hand and walked in. Sachiko was getting four glasses of tea ready. "How was your day at school, Sayu?"

"It was great. Actually, when you pick me up tomorrow, could I bring a friend along? They need help with some studying with school," Sayu said, sitting beside Hitomi.

Sachiko smiled. "That would be wonderful. Although you might want to reconsider your plans temporarily."

Soichiro took over from here. He cleared his throat and said, "Elle's guardians wish for her to stay here for now. We've agreed to take Elle in for the time being."

Sayu, even though shea already knew this information, was excited and showed it easily. "When is she coming?" Sayu asked, her eyes wide in happiness. It would mean she could see her friend more often. It was like a never-ending sleepover!

"She'll be here tonight," Sachiko said, walking over to the stove to drop off the hot kettle. Sayu nodded, excited.

"Should I go prepare the guest room? I won't mind getting it cleaned up quickly," Sayu offered.

"That would be great," Sachiko said with a smile.

"We'll be leaving by six-thirty, Sayu," Soichiro added.

Sayu nodded and asked, "It is all right for my friend to come over, right?"

"Of course," Sachiko said. "There's spare sheets in the closet by the bathroom."

Sayu nodded, standing up and taking her tea with. "If it's all right, I'll go do that now," Sayu said. "Then I can get a start on my schoolwork."

"I can help with your schoolwork," Hitomi offered. "I'll be staying around until the meeting."

"That would be wonderful," Sayu said. She got out of the kitchen. Rushing up the stairs as fast as possible with her tea, Sayu walked to her room first. She grabbed her phone's headset and set it up as she walked to the the guest room, right across from hers.

When she set the tea down, she started to dial Near's number. Then she hesitated. Why was she nervous calling Near? It was just a phone call. And he said to call whenever... Sayu hit the call button.

The phone only rang twice before she heard a, _'Hello, Ms. Yagami.'_

Sayu smiled and said, "And a hello to you too Mister Near."

"_I'm assuming you have an answer about our studying tomorrow."_

"Yeah, _Okaa-san _said it would be all right," Sayu said.

"_I'm going to assume _Okaa-san _means mother,"_ Near replied, sounding amused.

Sayu, much to her surprise, flushed slightly. She started cleaning off the old bedsheets as she explained, "Yes it is. I usually speak Japanese more when Hitomi is around. She always speaks Japanese terms around the family. I just pick up on it."

"_Well, it's good for me. It gives me a chance to work on my Japanese."_

"I'm glad I could help," she grinned. "Oh, yes, I got the meeting recorded too."

"_Wonderful. Will you bring that in tomorrow?"_

"Of course. I figured we could probably copy it down in a notebook also, if it gets erased."

"_There will be a cipher, obviously."_

"Yes, obviously." In the background, Sayu could hear someone call for Near and then Near grumble something.

"_Well, Ms. Yagami, it seems I must be going. Dinner is almost ready."_

Loud squealing noises were followed by his explanation. Sayu giggled and asked, "Are there little children around?"

"_Yes... Well good-bye Ms. Yagami."_

"Good-bye to you, Mister Near," Sayu replied, giggling slightly as they both hung up. She sighed and, with a smile, continued her work. The room was very dusty. It hadn't been used in a while. Sayu started cleaning the room, when her phone went off again. She answered with the headset.

"_Hey, Sayu, it's Elle!"_

Sayu grinned. "Hey, Elle. I'm surprised you have your phone already."

She could imagine Elle grinning as she answered, _"Yeah, father gave it back already. He wanted me to tell you about some arrangements going on."_

"I already heard," Sayu answered. "You'll be staying here for now."

"_How did you hear?" _Elle asked, sounding amused.

"_Otou-san, Okaa-san, _and Hitomi told me," Sayu answered.

"_That would explain why you're speaking Japanese,"_ Elle commented. _"Hitomi always brings that side out."_

"Yeah, I know. Well, I'm already getting the guestroom ready. There's a desk, some shelving and a full-sized bed. I'm sure you'll love it."

"_It sounds just like my type of room. Well, since you already know, I guess I'll let you clean in peace. Father probably won't want me on the phone too long."_

"Well, then, until next time, Elle," Sayu said.

"_Yes, until next time, Sayu," _Elle agreed and hung up.

Sayu took out her headset and walked out of the guest room. After she put the headset away, she walked back to the guest room for the bedsheets and comforter and walked it downstairs to the laundry room.

Sachiko, hearing Sayu coming down the stairs, called, "Dinner will be ready in fifteen!"

"Okay, _Okaa-san,_" Sayu said as she walked into the kitchen. Hitomi and Soichiro were in conversation about Hitomi's schooling. Sayu went to the closet and grabbed the broom and some dusting spray and the duster. When she went back upstairs, she went for her cooled tea also. She drank that as she dusted and finished it when it was time to sweep.

She had about seven minutes left when she finished sweeping. Sayu went for some bed sheets and put them back on. She wasn't sure if Elle was bringing her own comforter and texted Elle the question. Elle was not bringing a comforter and asked for the extra blanket. So Sayu got a nice light grey feather comforter and put it on the bed.

Hitomi called for Sayu when dinner was ready. Sayu had just grabbed the recorder and was examining it. She decided to bring it down to dinner and try to get some information about the Kira case from her father or sister.

**~Author's Note~**

**First a few Japanese facts: **

**_Otou-san: Father_  
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**_Okaa-san: Mother  
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**Thank you for reading this. I hope you found this chapter enjoyable and I can't wait to read any reviews!  
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**XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX  
><strong>


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Everyone knows since I'm posting stories on Fanfiction that I don't own the series in anyway except this original story plot line and Hitomi. The show Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni mentioned in here is also not mine by any way. Wanted to clarify that.**

**Chapter Six**

Sayu helped her mother clear the table, grumbling under her breath. Her attempt to get anything on the Kira Case had been ruined. At any attempt to bring up the Kira Case, Sachiko snapped at her daughter about bringing up the case. Sayu hadn't realized how touchy Sachiko was about the case. Eventually, she just gave up and decided to ask about it on the car ride to the meeting place. She just wanted to be able to bring something more to Near tomorrow than just a cipher and her father's temporary meeting. She wanted something BIG. She didn't really care otherwise.

Sachiko interrupted Sayu's train of thought. "Can you please wash the larger dishes? I'll load up the dishwasher."

"I can dry, _Imouto_, " Hitomi offered, taking the medium sized towel off of a hanging rack. Sayu smiled at Hitomi and filled the sink of water.

"Actually, _Okaa-san_, Hitomi and I can handle this," Sayu said.

Hitomi frowned slightly, but said, "Yes, _Okaa-san_, we can do this. Why don't you enjoy time with _Otou-san_?"

Sachiko smiled at both her daughters and finally left the kitchen. Hitomi started loading the dishwasher. "So, why did you want _Okaa-san _out of the kitchen?"

"Can I ask about the Kira Case?" Sayu asked. Hitomi looked over at Sayu with a suspicious look on her face.

"Why are you suddenly so curious?" Hitomi asked.

Sayu answered, "Everyone else besides _Okaa-san _and I are on the case. I want to try to see if I can work a different angle. I can't do that without any information." It wasn't a complete lie, but Sayu knew it was nowhere near the truth either.

Hitomi nodded hesitantly. She still looked suspicious. "I'd have to check with my boss. He specifically said not to share the information with anyone, but if you're helping on the case as well, it might not be a bad idea."

Sayu grimaced slightly. "Could you not tell him?"

"You can't expect me to not say anything. If he knew, I'd be off the case for sure."

Sayu gave her sister the best puppy dog look she could muster up. "Pleeaase, Hitomi? Even a little bit of information will be helpful."

Hitomi looked back at Sayu and sighed. "I'll have to think about it, Sayu." Hitomi looked deep in thought after that. Sayu decided not to push the subject. She was smart not to. Within minutes of dropping the subject, Soichiro appeared in the kitchen.

"Sayu, do you have Elle's homework with you?"

Sayu smiled at her father. "Of course. The teachers always make sure I have everything by the end of the day."

"Good. I believe Sachiko is coming with so she can take you guys back right away and give Elle time to get settled in."

"We can work on our homework at home tonight then. I already have a portion done, but Elle may always need help." The chances of that happening were about 1%.

Soichiro nodded and left the room. Sayu turned back to the big dishes and started to scrub them. Hitomi was still silent, but she came up and helped Sayu by drying the dishes. Sayu smiled at her sister, but decided it was better not to say anything.

It didn't take too much longer to finish the kitchen. By the time it was finished, Sayu and Hitomi were talking again and laughing. Hitomi even asked questions about Near. By the time they were done with the kitchen, Sayu was flustered. Her sister kept insisting her and Near were together. Sayu denied it. Hitomi wouldn't believe her.

Eventually, they both quit discussing that topic and were sitting out in the living room. They were both working on schoolwork. Sayu's work took no time at all. She finally decided just to keep turning in her work. Why not try to prove how good at school she was? She even tried herself at Hitomi's schoolwork. It was definitely more of a challenge. Then Sayu just decided to read for a while.

Soichiro gave the two girls a five minute warning. They got ready to leave. While they were waiting by the door, Hitomi, touched Sayu's shoulder lightly. Sayu looked back at her sister with a smile. It faltered when Sayu saw her face. Hitomi said quietly, "We'll talk five days from now."

Sayu looked back at her sister, surprised. "About that...?"

"Yes." Then Hitomi smiled and said, "I've met Elle a few times when Light wasn't there. She's really nice."

"She's a great friend," Sayu agreed.

Soichiro walked up to both his daughters. "All right, Sayu you'll come with me and Hitomi. You're mother will be parked about five blocks away from the hotel. I'm sure when Elle knows the address, she'll be able to lead you right there." Sayu nodded, buttoning up her light jacket. She thought for a moment, and then decided to put on her fedora hat. She looked over at the mirror to check it went okay. Happy, she grabbed her bag. Soichiro and Hitomi were just heading outside. She followed after them. Sachiko would be leaving a little bit after them.

Then they were heading for the hotel Elle was at. Sayu sat in the back, reading a novel and thinking about a cipher for her and Near at the same time. After a while, she decided just to quit reading and look out the window while thinking. Hitomi was going to share information with her! But... Sayu felt terrible that she was going to tell Near whatever Hitomi said. Sayu bit her lip and glanced over at Hitomi. She and Soichiro were busy talking and discussing more about Hitomi's college classes. Sayu had no idea how she wouldn't be able to keep that from Hitomi and not break down from the guilt.

With a sigh, she stared out the window again. Then she decided to ask Soichiro. "When will Elle and I actually leave to meet up with _Okaa-san_?"

"We have to pick up Matsuda first. We'll probably end up being the last group. We'll make sure to let you know when you can go."

"Okay. What is the address?"

"I have it written down to look at. Would you need a map?"

"Probably not, but it's better to be prepared," Sayu answered. She took the address first and sat back in the seat. Hitomi started fishing for a map. While she did that, Sayu examined the address. It only took a moment before she realized what the address was. "Hitomi, you don't need to find the map," Sayu said with a grin and asked her father, "Did you do this on purpose?"

"You're mother thought it would be best to get to know Elle over a cup of coffee. She figured you'd enjoy the treat," Soichiro said with a smile, looking at Sayu through the rear view mirror.

"Thank you, _Otou-san_. I'll make sure to thank _Okaa-san _when I see her."

Soichiro just smiled at his daughter. Sayu grinned back at him and started to relax in the seat when her phone went off. She fished it out of her pocket and looked at the number. She couldn't help, but grin. It was Near. She opened her phone and looked at the text.

_'I'll can be around your home until eight tomorrow. Guardian will pick me up at your house.'_

Sayu smiled and texted back, _'I'm guessing you'll need the address. And there may be an extra person joining us if that's OK.'_

N: _'I don't need the address. Who's joining us?'_

S: _'I mentioned my friend Elle before. Her guardian needed her to stay with us for a while. But she might not join us. She already knows Japanese. How do you know my address?'_

N: _'She can join us if you want her to. I don't care. And Ms. Yagami, I've already looked up everyone.'_

Sayu texted back a few more times before she let him go. Then they were at a hotel.

#

#

Near darkened the touch screen and continued to roll a dice between his thumb and pointer. He stared at it, trying to sort through all his thoughts. He hadn't been able to find anything on this Elle person. Obviously, there were tons of Elle's in the world. But none of them were registered in Japan and to make mattes more difficult, they were all settled down. Any that he had actually searched, he had been able to find, even if they had moved. This Elle of Japan wasn't registered anywhere, even at the school she supposedly went to. He had never found a problem like this before; he could track anyone, anywhere.

Even Sayu. Not that she had much to look at. Not one criminal record, pretty good grades, and only a few bad marks in her school record. It seemed to happen more in the last year than before. Elle must have come in then. But why wasn't she registered anywhere?

Sayu had mentioned she had guardians. Not actual parents. Could L...? Near never thought he would. But it would make sense that she wouldn't be registered anywhere. But why would L have a child with him? Train her as the next L? Or was it something else? Near frowned and set the dice on the pile of the rest, completing the city. This had to be the hardest thing he had to solve. Even Kira left more digital footprints than this Elle girl (not that it was much. Near had only been able to find two trails he _suspected _might be from Kira). If this was the work of L, Near would have to kick up his tracking abilities too. He had only had to use these five times in all the detective work he had done. This challenge would be interesting. With one final thought, Near decided to test the law of vibrations once more and knocked over the city.

#

#

"Okay, can you take this?" Elle asked, handing Sayu a duffel bag of clothes. Sayu took the bag with a grin. "I can't believe you're actually staying with me!" Sayu said with a grin. Elle nodded, but she seemed nervous too. Sayu frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Elle gave Sayu a sheepish grin. "I'm going to miss father. I mean, I might not get to see him all the time, but every night, if I can't sleep, he reads me detective stuff and... well, I'm going to miss it."

Sayu smiled softly and hugged her friend with one arm. "Don't worry. Soon enough, you'll be back here to hear all that stuff!"

Elle finally grinned and said, "At least I can decorate my own room! Father gave me extra cash to just before you got here."

Sayu hesitated for a second while Elle picked up a few other bags she had. Then she decided to ask, "So is he working with the Kira Case?"

She noticed instantly when Elle tensed. She frowned, but decided to wait for Elle's explanation. Finally she turned around and said, "Yeah, he helps in the case once in a great while."

Sayu nodded, but frowned again when Elle turned around. It was the first time she noticed Elle lied. She decided not to mention anything about the lie, but asked, "So, does your father tell you anything? I'm lucky I even know the name of the case or the fact my father is on it."

Again, it took Elle a moment to answer and when she said, "No, not much" Sayu could, again, tell Elle was lying. She was offended and curious at the same time.

This time, Sayu mentioned, "You're a bad liar." When Elle turned around, Sayu saw the surprise in her eyes, but she had a grin on her face.

"You would be an excellent detective, Sayu Yagami," Elle said. She sighed and told her, "I'm not really allowed to say anything."

"I'm you're best friend! You know you can share anything with me."

After a moment, Elle grinned and said, "If you make me enough sweets, maybe I will. Come on, we're going to be late. If you'll get the elevator, I'll be right behind you. I just want to say goodbye to father."

"Okay," Sayu agreed, deciding to take all the bags at once. She left the room to give Elle some privacy with her father. She just got to the elevator when Elle returned. She was clutching something to her chest. Sayu decided not to pry anymore and hit the elevator button before Elle met up with her. The elevator door opened just as Elle met up with Sayu. They got onto the elevator. Sayu explained where they would be meeting up with Sachiko on the way to the ground floor. They had been much further up than usual, since L had gotten the master suits for Elle and him.

Once on the ground floor, Sayu and Elle started out the entrance. A few people stared at them, but Sayu ignored them. Elle, on the other hand, stopped and asked, "What are you staring at?" Sayu stifled a giggle.

"Come on, Elle," Sayu said, chuckling slightly.

Elle looked at each person who had been staring at her and then started walking again. When she was outside, Elle burst into giggles. "Did you see that one lady's face?" Elle asked between giggles.

Sayu grinned. "Come on, _Okaa-san_ will be waiting for us."

Elle followed Sayu all the way to _Dragon's Brew,_ both girls talking about the reactions in the hotel lobby. That's when Elle finally questioned Sayu about Near. Sayu tried to keep the history as vague as possible, knowing Near would not trust Sayu if she told anymore details. She even lied to Elle some. She was a better liar by far, since she knew what liars often did to give away that they were lying. By the time Elle finally dropped the subject of Near, they were at the _Dragon's Brew. _Sayu saw Sachiko inside at her favorite booth and pointed that out to Elle. Elle offered to wait outside with the stuff while Sayu got the keys to unlock the door. Sayu agreed and went inside, right to her mother.

#

#

L watched until Elle and Sayu walked off. Then, he continued to look out the window while the rest of the Task Force started to discuss more things about Kira. He knew he should join them, but he just wanted to wait. See if Elle would come back again. If she did, he was sure he would have let her stay. Then again, he didn't want to hurt her because of Laine... The thought of Laine sent a wave of anger L wasn't used to. Only that woman could do this to him, make him feel this way. And the only one who could push him to the point he had to send his daughter away.

He had been too careless letting Elle roam free in Japan this time. He had already known it was dangerous, but...

After another five minutes of standing and staring out the window, L decided to turn back to the Task Force. Laine would arrive in twenty-five minutes. It was better to announce her arrival to the rest of them before she showed up.

L walked over to the group, but not before asking Watari for some tea. Then he settled down at the head chair and looked over at the small group of his Task Force. Then he told them about Laine. She had told him she was a peace offering, for not allowing more FBI Agents to come to Japan, but they didn't want L to think they had abandoned him altogether. _'It would have been better if they had,'_ L thought, and then pushed it aside. It was time to be the professional again. Elle wasn't here as a distraction. _'She had to have been less of distraction three years ago when she wasn't demanding some extra freedom outside of a hotel room.'_

Elle used to be easy to keep occupied, especially if L let her help with cases. But once he came to Japan, he had let her join in less and less, fearing for her safety. It had been the last case they had in the UK. He had been visiting the Wammy's House, to see how the progress of M and N had been. It was the only time he had allowed Elle to be alone at the hotel. Thankfully, the man who had found her hadn't known she was L's daughter. He had just wanted to sell her. L had tracked Elle down in under four hours of knowing she was missing. Thankfully, Elle was relatively unharmed. When he found her, she had been sitting around a group of tied up, unconscious men. She smiled and ran to hug her father. When she looked up at him, she smiled and said, "It took you long enough to find me!" It was that day L realized who exactly Elle was. Him, but more dangerous. She had too much of Laine's challenging personality.

L was concerned about Elle since then. It took many months of persuasion before L actually considered even letting Elle take classes in a public school. He had only come to Japan originally to solve a few unsolved kidnappings and a chain of sex slaves. They were relatively easy to solve. He managed to shut down the sex slaves altogether and managed to find three kidnapped children and discover two bodies. By then, Elle managed to talk her dad into one semester, if she behaved. It took even longer for her to persuade him to let her walk to school and even longer to go without Watari altogether. Then, she got a second semester and met Sayu Yagami.

He noticed a change in her once Sayu was in the picture. Sayu was obviously a good influence on the girl. L even considered settling down her for now. He didn't need to move all over the world too often anymore. He could solve many cases right in a room. He _really _considered actually settling down. He could get Elle another nanny. Or she could stay with Sayu's family if L needed to go away.

Then Kira came into the picture. L realized what it really meant to settle down. That was when he decided as soon as Kira was caught, L was taking Elle as far away as possible. Maybe even to Wammy's House.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Instantly, L was out of his thoughts. He looked over at the door as Watari answered it. L watched Laine walk into the room. For a moment, L let his feelings fill him. The love he had felt for this blond woman... the hurt and betrayal when this same blond woman left him only with a child. The anger he felt towards Kira... L looked over at Light Yagami, who was just looking to see who was coming into the room. For a moment, L actually glared at the young man.

Then he banished all feelings and turned to the emotionless detective he was used to. He greeted Laine coolly and called everyone to order. Thankfully, Laine was forced to sit further away. When Aizawa offered his seat to Laine, L told Aizawa to stay where he was. After a moment, Aizawa settled back into his seat. Then he started explaining everything that the Kira Task Force had discovered about Kira so far. L would have to talk to her later to explain a few other suspicions he had about Light Yagami.

#

#

"Thank you so much for the treat, Mrs. Yagami," Elle said, bowing. Sayu looked over at her friend with a small smile on her face.

She nudged Elle and said, "You don't have to be so formal," Sayu giggled, standing up. "I can go pay for the bill if you'd like, Mother."

"I can get it, Sayu. Why don't you walk with Elle out to the car?" Sachiko replied.

Sayu nodded and got her jacket on. Elle smiled and said, "I love the fedora hat." She snatched up the hat before Sayu got her hands on it and plopped it down on her head. "Does it look good?" she asked, striking a comical pose.

Sayu laughed. "Here let me get a picture." She snapped one with her phone and showed it to Elle.

Elle giggled and told Sayu to send her the picture. They started out to the car, Elle giving Sayu back her fedora. "You have to get me a hat like that. It'll look amazing on me."

"We can go this weekend if you wanted," Sayu suggested. "As long as mother ungrounds me of course. I think they're going to let me off the hook. But I can't do that for a long time."

Elle nodded. "I won't pull you into something like that again."

Sayu smiled and opened the door of the car. That's when she looked up and stopped dead in her tracks. Near looked back at her, only ten feet away. Elle stood beside Sayu, looking between the two. After a moment, Sayu said, "Oh, hi Near!" a little too cheerfully.

Near walked over, greeting Sayu quietly like he always did. He looked over at Elle and asked, "Who is she?"

"I'm Elle," she said, offering her hand. Of course, Near didn't take it.

"Sayu talked about you," was all he said. He turned back to Sayu. "I was on a few errands when I saw you. I thought I should say hi."

Sayu couldn't help, but smile. "Really? Well, that was nice of you."

Near nodded, glancing over at Elle again. "I guess I'll leave you alone with your friend."

"I already told mother that you were going to stay for dinner," Sayu said randomly, and flushed. "Uuh...well, you probably need to get back to whatever it is you're doing. I'll see you later then." Near nodded and stood there for a moment. After a second, Sayu hugged Near. She was surprised when he loosely put one arm around her. She closed her eyes for a second and then let go and stepped back. She smiled sheepishly at Near. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

"Yes, you will," he replied, nodded to Elle, and continued to walking.

When Sayu turned to look at Elle, she had a suspicious look on her face. "Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend? I mean, sheesh I was this third wheel in an even more awkward conversation than usual." Elle giggled. Sayu felt her face heat up.

"He's not my boyfriend," Sayu said defensively. "I can talk to a guy and not have a crush on him!"

"Riiight... Whatever you want to say, Sayu." Elle grinned back at Sayu and scooted back into the backseat.

"He's just a friend. He's new to the school."

"And very socially awkward. And extremely smart." Elle seemed thoughtful after that. "It was kind of weird, how smart he was."

"He knows a bunch of languages. I was pretty shocked. I mean, I only know three, including two native languages."

"That's pretty cool."

The driver's door opened and Sachiko got in. "It's getting pretty late," she commented, turning on the car. "Sayu, you can help Elle get settled in and then I want you two getting ready for bed. Lights are out at ten." Sachiko smiled at Elle. "I did get a television set up in your room. It was my son's originally, but he isn't around too often. We can always get you a different one this weekend. I figured we could all go shopping as long as you both behave."

"That sounds wonderful, Mrs. Yagami," Elle said with a smile. Sayu smiled also. Then the two settled back into the seat. Sayu started talking about Elle's schoolwork. She groaned, but eventually just listened and complained slightly.

When the finally got home, it was going on nine o'clock. Sayu helped carry everything up to Elle's bedroom. Elle flopped down onto the bed and sighed contently. "This is an amazingly comfortable bed," she sighed.

"The bed actually has a down cover top for the mattress," Sayu said, settling towards the edge of the bed. She let out a sigh too. "I want to get one of these for my bed so badly."

"How about I get one for you this weekend as a way to apologize for getting you in trouble?" Elle offered. "These are only like eighty bucks."

"That's really expensive! I don't think you could afford that."

Elle just grinned. "Let's just get all this stuff put away. I'm exhausted!"

It took them half an hour to get everything put away. Elle had a few things she put on the shelves, but she kept one book beside her. Sayu was curious about what it was, but decided not to ask about it yet. Once everything was settled in, they decided to watch a little TV for a while. While flipping through the channels, Elle stumbled upon a show Sayu loved to watch, but her mother never really let her watch.

"Wait! Elle, you should watch this show!" Sayu said, eyes widening with excitement.

"What is it?" Elle asked, putting down the remote.

"It's called _Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni*. _In America, it's changed to _When They Cry: Higurashi_. I have no idea if you've heard of it..." Sayu fell silent, fully immersed in the show. Elle laughed quietly, but was silent otherwise and watched the show with Sayu.

#

#

When Sayu woke up, it took her a mere second to realize she wasn't in her room. She was in the guest room... no wait, it was Elle's room now. Where was Elle? Slowly, Sayu sat up and yawned widely. She started rubbing at her eyes and got out of bed. She glanced at the wall clock in the room. It was only six o'clock. It was her normal wake-up time for school. With a sigh, she walked over to her room. She could hear the shower running and guessed it was Elle. Her mother was usually already up and showered when Sayu woke up. Sachiko always got up extremely early with Soichiro.

She got together everything for her shower and piled it into the small bag she had. Throwing her towel over her shoulder, Sayu started for the bathroom. She knocked on the door. Instead of just calling out, the door opened. Elle poked her head out and smiled at Sayu. "Did I keep the shower from you?" Elle asked, opening the door wider. She was already dressed. For the first time, Sayu saw Elle with her hair pulled back. It actually looked cute on her. Her hair was layered, so pieces were hanging out to the sides. She looked so much more innocent than usual.

"No, you didn't keep the shower occupied. I just got up," Sayu replied, stepping aside so Elle could pass. Elle walked out of the bathroom and smiled at Sayu.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," Elle replied with a small smile. She started down the stairs. Sayu turned back to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and put her towel on the hanging rack next to the tub. She set up her soap and hair products and then got herself ready for the shower.

Her shower lasted fifteen minutes. When she got out, she dressed up in her cute yellow dress shirt and her cutest jeans. She blow dried her hair and brushed it out. She smiled into the mirror, to test out how she looked. Satisfied, she headed downstairs. Sachiko was already in the kitchen making some eggs. Elle was helping by making water for some tea. Sachiko turned around and smiled at Sayu. "Did you know Elle has no idea how to cook?" she asked, turning back around. "Since she has until next week Wednesday off, I figured I could help her learn some basics."

Elle grinned at Sayu. "She has no idea that I'll end up burning down the kitchen. I told her so, but she insists."

"That's great you'll learn finally. That way, when we're cooking in class, I don't fail because you scorched something. The one time, she actually burned the water, Mother," Sayu said, directing her attention to Sachiko.

Sachiko just smiled. "I'm up for the challenge." Sayu grinned and walked over to the cabinets to grab three tea cups and tea bags. She set them up on the counter and walked over next to Elle to check the water, just in case. Elle stuck her tongue out at Sayu.

"The water's not going to burn this time. Don't worry," Elle said. The pot started to whistle. Elle took hold of the handle and slowly walked the pot over to the cups. Sayu put the tea bags into the cups and Elle poured the water into each. Sayu walked the cups over to the kitchen table and checked each.

"Grab the sugar please, Elle," Sayu said, extracting her tea bag first. She didn't like hers very heavy and preferred to sweeten it up a lot.

"Oh, pull mine out too, Sayu," Elle told her. Elle was on her tiptoes, trying to reach the sugar bowl. Sayu pulled out Elle's bag also. Sachiko liked hers left in five minutes more than Sayu's so she didn't bother with her mother's cup. Elle finally brought over the cup of sugar while Sachiko brought over breakfast.

"Sayu, please put the fruit together," Sachiko said. Sayu frowned. Sachiko seemed different. With a shrug, Sayu walked over to the fridge and pulled out some grapes and oranges. She put the grapes into a bowl, peeled two oranges, broke the fruit into pieces, and mixed the pieces in with the grapes. Sayu took the bowl over to the table. Sachiko already had the eggs put on each plates. Sayu set the bowl in the middle, went back for a ladle, and put some fruit onto each plate. Elle dug right in. Sayu ate her breakfast eagerly too. She hadn't had this much fun since her family had always been together. That included when Hitomi used to visit almost every day. Was Elle that much of an impact on her mother?

Sayu finished eating. She put her plate into the dish washer and checked the time on her phone. Apparently, she had a message. She opened it up. It was only Ai, asking Sayu about an assignment. Sayu quickly texted back and headed upstairs for her bag. It was nearly time to leave. Thankfully, she had put her bag together the night before. She threw it over her shoulder and went back to the kitchen. "Mother, I forgot to put together a lunch last night. Can I have a little cash?"

"Sure, Sayu," Sachiko said. "And I'll pick you up after school with your friend too today. Who is it? Ai or Kamiko maybe?"

"Actually, it's the new kid," Sayu answered.

"Oh, was that the person I met too?" Elle asked, a glint in her eyes.

Sayu gave her a suspicious look, but said, "Yes."

"Oooh..." Elle grinned, but didn't say anything.

Thankfully, Sachiko didn't seem to notice. "Okay, it'll be great to meet another friend of yours. I'll be there at there at three fifteen."

"Great." Sachiko got up and grabbed some money for Sayu. Sayu took the cash, said good bye, and headed out the door. She was running a little behind, but it wouldn't be too late. She'd barely make it before the bell rang.

When she did finally get there, her entire group was already waiting for her. She walked up to them and greeted them all at once. "Why were you so late?" Ai asked, folding her arms in front of her. "I waited like five extra minutes. If I had waited any longer I would have been late too! The least you could have done was texted me!"

"I'm sorry, Ai," Sayu apologized. "I was in a rush this morning. I didn't even think about it."

Ai huffed, but accepted Sayu's apology. The group started with their normal routine of gossip. For once, Sayu just blanked out. She really loved these girls, but sometimes... She sighed and said, "I'm going to head inside."

This time Hanako looked back at Sayu. "Why?" Suddenly, none of the group looked happy.

Sayu shuffled on her feet uncomfortably. "Why are all of you suddenly mad at me?"

"You're hardly hanging around with us anymore, Sayu," Rika said with a frown. "It's extremely mean to just ditch your friends all of a sudden. I mean, just last night, Momo saw you with that Elle girl. I thought you were grounded."

"I am," Sayu said, folding her arms in front of her. "Everyone knows Elle has a foster parent. Her guardian had to let her stay at my house for a while because he had to leave the country." Sayu had no idea if it was true, but it worked well. The girls started to look a little guilty. "If you have something you really need to ask about, how about you talk to me? It's really rude not to. Besides, if you would have given me the chance to explain, I would have told you that I was most likely able to shop with you this weekend."

After a few moments, the group of girls offered apologies as well. After a moment, Sayu sighed and smiled at them. "So, where are you guys planning on going?" They all started talking at once, giving Sayu a slight head ache, but she didn't mind. It felt nice for things to be normal for a little while. She knew soon enough, things would start to change, so she wanted to embrace whatever little bit of normal she had left.

She glanced around the crowd while she listened to her group talk. Sayu knew she was looking for Near, even though she should have been paying attention to what her friends were saying. She couldn't help it; she was just so excited to tell him what she learned. She also had the cipher ready. She knew it would help a little at least.

The bell rang before Sayu could catch Near to share some of the information. Slightly disappointed, she started in the school with her friends. Rika started asking Sayu about Near some more. Sayu tried to answer the questions as well as she could, but it was difficult. She really didn't know much about him. When they all parted to go down separate halls, Sayu finally spotted Near. She decided not to bother him this morning and headed to her locker instead.

She got together all her books, notebooks, and a writing utensil and started for first hour. She got into her seat as she always did and started reading the notes she'd taken from her science research last night. She felt that she did absolutely amazing on her work last night. Sayu was sure her teacher would be impressed, but Sayu would have to wait to see.

After reviewing her notes one last time, Sayu settled into her seat and started reading an American novel Elle had given her for her birthday. It was a great way to learn the English translations. Sayu had even started writing the novel into Japanese. Once Sayu finished translating the novel, she figured she could have Near translate the novel into English. He could compare his translated pages to the English version.

Just as Sayu was finishing the fifteenth chapter, the teacher called for the class's attention. Reluctantly, Sayu put away the novel and put her focus on the teacher. Today was the day for a change; she was going to put her full effort into her work.

#

#

Sayu was surprised how easily things came to her when she really focused. She didn't talk to hardly anyone throughout the morning. Even Near sensed Sayu's change and didn't disturb her. They didn't talk until study hall, (which every other day was right before lunch). When the hour finally arrived, Sayu greeted Near. He didn't greet her back. He just pulled out a notebook and said, "You seem different this morning."

Sayu grinned sheepishly. "Well, I did all my schoolwork last night. I mean, it was amazing! I want to start doing that all the time. And besides, I have huge news for you." Near nodded. Sayu dropped her voice and continued, "I have the recording formatted to MP3. Here, listen." Sayu pulled out a pair of headphones and plugged them into her cell phone. She uncorrupted the file and hit play. While he listened, Sayu pulled out her notebook of ciphers. Near could choose one he wanted to use. Sayu already had hers picked out. For a moment, she wondered if Near would even be able to crack it. It was one of the best ones she made. It took weeks perfecting it.

After two minutes, Near took out the headphones. "That's interesting," he commented. "There's a daughter."

"Yeah, I was surprised, considering... well, I know her."

Near looked at Sayu, curious. "It's that Elle girl you've commented about and who I met just the other day, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Sayu said absently. She suddenly found her fingers more interesting. "...She's also the one staying at my house currently."

She could feel Near looking at her, but she hesitated before looking up. She smiled and offered her notebook of ciphers. "Take a look at these and tell me which one you want to use. Some of them are off the internet, but I did make quite a few myself. I already picked one out for myself. I figured we should use separate ciphers when we contact each other. That way it will be harder to break the codes."

"And we should switch ciphers every few weeks. Choose nine of these each and change every six weeks."

_'He's pretty intense with secrecy. It's pretty cute,' _Sayu thought with a giggle. Then she realized yet again she had thought Near did something _cute. _Instantly, she coughed. Damn Hitomi and Elle... Near was giving her a strange look as well. She just grinned stupidly and then stuck her nose into an open book around their table. She really needed to clear her head. She closed her eyes behind the book and counted to fifty in French. It was her third language she was learning. So far she only knew the numbers up to one hundred.

After she got to fifty, she put the book down. Near looked like he had finished skimming the ciphers. He glanced back at her. "I picked out my nine. Which ones do you want?"

Sayu looked over his sheet. She grinned. He hadn't chosen her favorite ones! She quickly wrote out hers and showed him them. He glanced over the sheet twice and said, "Okay, I have them memorized. How long will you need?"

"No need," Sayu grinned.

"Ah, yes, you're photographic memory," Near said softly, folding the sheets and tucking them into his pocket. "I'll burn these tonight then."

"That's good." Sayu started to scribble down in a notebook. So far, she had managed to complete all her assignments in class. She was glad.

"So, why are you so focused in your studies today?" Near asked. He was looking over his math notebook, although Sayu could tell he really didn't need to look over anything. A few times already, she'd seen him just look at the problem and write down an answer in the next instant. She was impressed.

"Truthfully, I want to show my best. You're little speech yesterday really helped." Sayu smiled softly and started writing down some Japanese words. "Mother should be here around three fifteen. She knows we'll have extra company. I haven't seen her this thrilled in so long!"

"That's good."

"And Elle promised last night not to disturb us while we study Japanese. I'm writing out your assignment right now." She grinned at Near. "So, why did it take you so long to learn Japanese?"

For a moment, Near didn't answer and then he said, "I hadn't had a case in Japan before. This is my first."

"Is it you're first undercover too?" Sayu asked teasingly, then blinked at her bold move.

Near seemed to see it too, for he gave her a quick look. "No, but you're the first one to discover it. That means you have some brains."

Sayu beamed and looked back down at her sheet. "I'll tell you this now. I'm going to give you a novel to translate from English to Japanese. You can read over the novel first and then translate it once I give you all the lessons. I figured we could meet once a week for two months. I already found an old Japanese study guide so you can memorize that and then we can review. I figure you'll be done that quickly with how smart you are."

Near nodded, looking at Sayu the whole time she talked. "And I figured the next study time can be at your home... if you don't mind."

Near seemed suspicious at this. "...Why?"

Sayu shrugged. Truthfully, she had no idea. She came up with the idea after a dream last night. Yeah, it was stupid, but she was suddenly curious what another genius's bedroom looked like. And she didn't want to seem like a creeper to Near so she decided not to say a thing. After a few moments Near sighed and said, "I guess that's fine. My foster guardians are curious to who my friends are."

"So you have multiple friends now?"

"Not really," Near said with a slight frown. "They heard me on the phone last night with a few colleagues. I figured I should bring someone around soon anyway."

"So, next week Wednesday?"

"How about this Friday? This way you can meet my guardians first and then when we study, they'll be less likely to interrupt us during our studying."

"Sure!" She hadn't meant to sound so enthusiastic, but Near invited her over sooner than she thought! This was awesome!

The bell rang, signaling the end of study hall. It was lunch time now. They got all their stuff together and headed straight for their separate lockers. As soon as Sayu had managed to shove her stuff into the small space, she was bombarded by her friends. They were all talking about her inviting Near to lunch. It just happened the poor boy showed up then. Ai started on him first, putting her arm around his. He didn't move away, but he didn't seem too comfortable with it either.

They started to drag him along and pulled Sayu with them as well. She was so shocked she wasn't sure how to react. Sayu decided to follow along. She glanced at her hand to make sure she had her wallet. She wanted to know that she hadn't dropped in at the sudden occurrence of her friends dragging her off. Why were they suddenly interested in Near?

She leaned over to Kamiko and whispered, "Why is Ai acting like that?"

Kamiko grinned. "Well, since you weren't interested, Ai thought she could give him a try. She thinks he's adorable!" she whispered back.

Sayu frowned and was suddenly grumpy, but she continued to follow her friends anyway. They all sat around their usual table, but Ai had Near right next to her instead. Sayu turned away and started for the lunch line. She picked out her lunch of chicken salad and chicken flavored rice. Then she sat back down in her usual seat, which happened to be right across from Ai and Near. She scowled and stabbed a piece of her salad with her fork. "Did you guys ask if he even wanted to be here?" Sayu asked her friends.

Near was the one that answered. "I don't mind. It's nice to be incorporated with some friends," he told Sayu. He wasn't eating a thing, Sayu noticed, and grumbled a little more.

"Why do you have such a stick up your butt," Ai said with a slight smirk. Sayu just looked at her friend. Ai was playing some game, wasn't she?

"I don't! I'm just trying to think how he could feel," Sayu replied back, deciding to calm down. What was she getting so worked up about anyway? Ai was probably just trying to get back at Toshiko for something anyway. And Near had said he didn't mind...

The rest of lunch, Sayu decided to enjoy herself. She talked and laughed with her friends, though she kept an eye on Near to see how he was doing. He seemed natural talking to Sayu's friends. She was surprised, but not completely. He seemed to be able to adapt to just about anything. It seemed he could do just about anything. Sayu was impressed.

When lunch finally ended, Sayu waited for all of her friends. Near didn't seem to mind talking with the group. He finally separated from the group when they all had to go. Then it was just him and Sayu. She was silent on the way to her locker. Then she turned to him. "I'm sorry about my friends."

"It's fine. The more people I talk to, the more my cover is secured. It really is helpful."

Sayu smiled. "I'm glad. And I'm sure you'll love to go clothes shopping with my friends sometime too!" Near looked over at Sayu, who was grinning and showing him that she was joking. He just shook his head.

"So, did you get anything else when you went with to pick up Elle?"

Sayu hesitated for a moment. Then she said, "I talked with my sister, Hitomi. She's going to share what she knows on the Kira Case."

It was Near's turn to look impressed. "Does she know I'm part of it?"

"...No...but she wouldn't care," Sayu said. She knew he could see she felt bad.

"If you don't want to share the information with me, it's fine-"

"No! If we can help solve the Kira Case, Hitomi would forgive me. If it saved their lives, none of them would care once we helped solve this!"

Near stared at Sayu for a few moments and then started to grin or smirk or... whatever it is that his grin classified as. "You're really prepared to do anything to help take down Kira, aren't you?" he asked softly. He glanced around, nervous someone might overhear them.

For a moment, Sayu was quiet. Then she nodded and grin. "Yes. If it helps save my family's life and relationships, I'm willing to do anything!"

Near nodded. "Then we can really start investigating soon." Sayu just grinned.

**~Author's Note~**

**Forgot to put an author's note. Hope you all enjoyed the story sorry for the slow updates. Please review**

***Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (otherwise known as When they Cry: Higurashi in America) is a real show. If you wish to view this show, please PM me and I can give you a link for the Japanese version with English subtitles. If you do not like gruesome shows then do not watch.  
><strong>


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

By the end of school, Sayu was finally nervous. What was her mother going to say? Sayu hadn't actually told Sachiko it was a guy she wanted to bring back home. And what if she told Soichiro? Sayu really didn't want to hear that conversation. The sex talk had been bad enough...

She glanced back at Near, who was waiting for her to finish getting her bag ready. She cursed quietly, fumbling to shove her last few text books into her bag. "Is everything okay, Sayu?" Near asked finally. Sayu slammed her locker door shut, slipped her backpack over one shoulder, and looked nervously at Near. His head was cocked to the side, looking curious. She couldn't help, but smile.

"Uumm, well... I'm gonna apologize now. I'm not sure how my mother is going to react. And if my father is home for dinner I have no idea what he's going to say or act or anything. So I'm just gonna apologize in case they get offensive or rude or... something," she said, finishing her rant rather lamely. She blushed lightly and started down the hall without another word.

Near didn't take long to catch up to her. He started talking instantly, "Sayu, I'm not expecting anything. For all I know, your family will accuse me of being your boyfriend. It wouldn't be the first time it happened. There was one girl I had to get close to so I could investigate her dad. He was labeled as a sex offender and rapist and serial killer all in one. She told her parents I was her boyfriend. She even tried to get me interested. Not that I ever would be, with such a stupid girl..." He trailed off, seeming deep in thought. Then he started speaking again. "I have dealt with so much of people's domestic problems it doesn't effect me in the least."

Sayu nodded, glancing at Near. "Domestic problems?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

Near nodded, for the first time looking slightly disgusted. "Marriage and being tied down. So much arguments and its just..." He shook his head, finally getting that same cool expression on his face. "Its not something I ever plan being associated with. And I have my life planned out."

"Well, that's no fun," Sayu said, frowning. "There's no surprises."

Near frowned. "What's the fun in having no idea what you're going to do?"

"Cause things can just happen. Planning things out a little bit is okay. Jeesh, I'm going to have to teach you like everything!" Sayu said jokingly.

They stepped outside of the school to the front parking lot. Sayu looked around and spotted Sachiko right away. Inwardly cringing, she pointed out the car to Near and started towards it. "Do you want the front seat?" Sayu asked before they got there. Near shook his head, seeming deep in thought. Sayu didn't dwell on this, keeping her gaze strictly on Sachiko's car. Thankfully, Sachiko hadn't noticed them yet.

Sayu opened the passenger door and sat down. Sachiko turned her head and opened her mouth to greet her daughter. Then she spotted the young boy opening the back passenger door. Her eyes widened slightly and she looked between Sayu to Near for several moments, first curious and then suspicious. "Who's this, Sayu?" she asked, sounding very parent-like.

"Mom, this is Near. He's only been at school a few days and I offered to help him catch up with his schooling," Sayu said.

Sachiko looked at Sayu suspiciously for several moments before turning and smiling at Near. "Its a pleasure to meet you Near."

"The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Yagami," Near said, sounding far more polite than Sayu could imagine. She giggled until her mother glanced at her.

Instantly, Sayu shut up. She decided to change the subject and asked, "So where's Elle at?"

Sachiko started by saying, "Oh, she decided she wanted to stay home to clean." She continued talking about Elle for a few more minutes. Sayu was glad to have her mother distracted until they got home. That way Sayu could escape without a lot of questions to Near. It wouldn't be long before Sachiko would try to ask if they were dating.

Thankfully, by the time they arrived home, Sachiko seemed to be through talking. Sayu quickly left the car before Sachiko could question her. Near followed suit. As they walked up to the house, Sayu told Near, "I'm just going to run upstairs real quick. I don't have any hair pieces on me and pulling my hair back is a lot better than getting frustrated when it gets in my face. The dining room is just to the left and past the living room. I'm sure that's where Mother is going to want us to work at."

Near nodded, although he seemed more intrigued by her home structure than what she was saying. She just smiled and opened the door for him. He walked in, muttering a thanks as he continued to examine the home. Before Sayu could walk upstairs, Sachiko had her hand on her shoulder. Instantly, Sayu tensed. After a second, she turned and smiled at her mother. The suspicious look on her face made Sayu's heart sink. "Is there something you're not telling me Sayu?" she asked.

"Of course not," Sayu replied, sounding surprised.

"And you're not acting out because Father hasn't been home lately? Or Light?"

Sayu laughed. "No, mother. I'm just trying to help him out. I figured that's the best I could do to help."

Sachiko nodded, still seeming a little suspicious, but reluctantly letting the subject go. "You know the rules, no locked doors. I'd prefer if you'd stay down here to study."

"Of course," Sayu smiled. "I just need a hair piece first."

Sachiko nodded. "Do you want some tea?"

"Actually some apple cider. I don't know about Near, you'll have to check with him."

"Okay, hurry up now." Sayu nodded and started straight up the stairs, two at a time. It took little time to find a hair piece and pulling back her hair. Flashing a quick smile in the mirror and finding her appearance was cute, Sayu headed back downstairs. When she walked into the kitchen, Near already had his school books set up; not that he was actually working on them. He seemed to be charming the pants off her mom! Sayu wasn't sure what his game was, but she really hoped he was just trying to get on her good side.

"Sayu!" Sachiko greeted, a slightly laugh still in her voice. "Why didn't you tell me Near was such a gentleman?"

"I wanted to surprise you," Sayu replied. She gave Near a questioning look when her mother turned around. He rolled his eyes and then glanced at the table. Sayu noticed a scrap of paper under Near's math text book. Discreetly, she snatched up the paper and glanced at it before shoving it into her pocket. She knew instantly it was one of their many ciphers. It took her a second to register which cipher it was; (Place cipher here). Instantly, her mind registered what it read, _'You need to be able to come over Friday. I might as well should build a bridge with her.' _Sayu smiled, but didn't let it last long as Sachiko turned back around.

"So if you guys need anything I'm going to be right in the living room showing Elle how to knit. She's never done that either! Its not a surprise, considering she doesn't have a mother, but really... parents these days..." She walked out of the kitchen, still muttering slightly.

Sayu smiled apologetically at Near and said, "Sorry about that..."

"Why? She's a good mother and careful about who you bring home. I respect that."

Sayu nodded, a grin starting on her face. "Okay, well let's start on your Japanese finally. So if we start by reviewing a few words, pronunciation, and more importantly about the marker, that should be a good review... I've written out a few words for you to review." She dug through her backpack for a second before handing Near a notebook. He glanced over the pages while Sayu dug out a few more text books.

Once she had a few more books set out, they both sat down and started working. Sayu was mildly surprised by how easily Near picked up on everything, but then again it wasn't much of a surprise that he could. He was brilliant, of course. Why else would he be hired to find Kira? The institute or whatever it was wouldn't have brought him in on the case if he wasn't capable of handling it.

Occasionally, Sachiko would come into the room and peak around the corner to see what they were doing. It was strange that Sayu would bring home a boy for schoolwork and dinner, but even more so that they were only just friends. She could already tell that there would be a lot of questions about Near after he left, if not during dinner. Hopefully, Near would just play casually about being the new student and needing help.

Sayu and Near continued working for about an hour, the first half hour on Japanese and then some math problems even she was having troubles with. She understood the concept, but sometimes her answers would be wrong. Near helped correct her quietly, whenever he knew Sachiko wouldn't be able to hear. Eventually, they had to move away from math while Sachiko was starting up dinner.

Elle was the surprise of the night.

She walked right into the kitchen and asked Sachiko, "Can we go to the market place before dinner?"

Both Sayu and Near looked at her, curious, and Sachiko looked slightly shocked. "What do you need?" she asked, setting down the knife she was cutting potatoes with.

She started looking slightly uncomfortable, glancing at Near. "We're out of women stuff and..." she trailed off and added, "Plus, I don't have much underwear either."

Sachiko got a knowing look on her face. "I thought we had picked some up over the weekend..." She started mumbling under her breath. "Sayu, I can trust you and Near here?"

"Of course," Sayu said instantly, slightly surprised. She never knew her mother would even consider leaving her alone with a boy in the house. "I'll even continue dinner. I'm sure Near could use a break after all."

Sachiko nodded, smiling at Sayu. "All right, I'll go grab my purse. Elle, go get a jacket and shoes on," Sachiko said, leaving the kitchen.

After a second, a grin broke out on Elle's face. She winked at Sayu. "I figured I could give you two some alone time," she said as she left the kitchen.

Sayu wanted to call out on Elle's remark, but thought it would be better not to. She flushed and glanced at Near. He shared a look with her. "Does she think-?"

"Apparently so," she cut in, flushing. "Sorry about the interruption."

"Its more than okay. This will give us time to discuss some things about Kira while you cook," Near said, getting up. "I'll help with the potatoes. I'm sure your mother meant to set the rolls in the oven."

As Sayu got the rolls out of the bag, she asked, "Did you get more information?"

After a glance around the room, Near nodded. "I've had some of my FBI colleagues looking into all the surveillance cameras that the heart attacks have occurred. They found something."

Sayu looked up at Near, eyes wide. "Did they see who it was?"

Near shook his head. "Not exactly. They've successfully hacked into some of police force's file and found a rough profile L had cropped up at the beginning of this ordeal. There was a prime candidate on the train. The suspect wore a dark sweatshirt with the hood up so we didn't see his face. His body type indicated male and the way he moved made me think he was about seventeen or eighteen."

"Is there any way I can see these videos?" she asked, excited.

Near hesitated, glancing at Sayu. "...I don't know..."

She frowned. "Is it you don't trust me or what?"

"...the videos are located only at the main FBI headquarters. There would be classification orders I could be breaking. I'd have to get access first."

"But you run this whole thing!"

Near nodded. "While that's the case, there's still certain rules the FBI have that I'm not allowed to breach."

Sayu sighed. "How am I supposed to help if I'm not allowed to the full access of information?"

For a moment, Near was quiet. Then he said, "I'll see what I can do."

Sachiko popped in at that moment. "Thank you both for helping. We shouldn't be more than ten or fifteen minutes."

"Okay, bye," Sayu said absently, deep in thought. The information Near told her was huge. When she heard the front door close, she turned back to Near. "Where was the video taken at?" They discussed the train station the video was taken at. Sayu recognized the place instantly, as it wasn't too far from her home. What was worst, was she knew Light had gone off in that station not too long ago. Obviously, it was just a coincidence.

After a couple more minutes, Near asked about the bathroom. "Its upstairs the second door on the right," Sayu told him, working on the potatoes now. She was getting them ready to boil.

Near nodded and left the kitchen.

#  
>#<p>

Once Near was upstairs, he quickly opened up all the doors. The first one was obviously her parents' room. The second was what looked like a guest room, but would obviously be Elle's room. The third was the bathroom, obviously, and the four was most likely Sayu's room. It was once he reached the fifth door, at the end of the hall, he was finally lucky. It had to be Light Yagami's bedroom. It was very organized, but it didn't seem like it had been occupied in a while. He started his search instantly.

He needed to know what could possibly be in here. From the files of the FBI, Light Yagami had been a prime suspect. It was also why Sayu wasn't a worry either; she had been searched into and found completely innocent to the Kira crimes. Her brother, however, was a different story. On the outside, he seemed innocent as well, but even his shadow, Raye Penber, was suspicious of him. For a little while, anyways. It was no coincidence that his fiancee, Naomi Misora, had ended up missing either. Near just knew it.

His first clue was to look through his books. He found the obvious fake books, but they held no incriminating interest. The rest of his books proved to be nothing out of the ordinary. Near could easily spot a faked cover or book. The next area to look would be under his mattress and under his bed, maybe hidden floorboards. But he didn't have time to scour every inch like he wanted to. He had maybe another minute. So after a quick scan under his mattress and under his bed, he went to Light's desk.

That proved _much _more interesting.

The first was the fact that Light had his keys in the lock on the desk. He opened the door and found the Diary. Near's brows furrowed together and he picked up the book. That's when he noticed the bottom of the drawer raise slightly. His first instinct was to try to lift up the bottom, but his mind reasoned with the instinct. He had to get the bottom open, but no one as smart as Light would make this so obvious or easy to get open.

He placed the diary onto of the desk and used his hands to slide on the sides of the drawer. He didn't find anything out of the ordinary. He considered pulling out the drawer as he ran his hands on the underside of the drawer. Then he felt it; the tiny, tiny hole underneath, near the front. Near crouched down, ready to inspect the drawer.

"What are you doing?!"

Sayu's offended and high pitched voice cut through his concentration. He hit his head on the drawer and stood up quickly. She stood in the doorway, eyes wide and the disapproval clear in her eyes. "Sayu," he said, cursing mentally. He absolutely hated domestics! "Its not what you think."

"Are you just getting close to me to try to infiltrate my house?!"

"Of course not!" he said, exasperated. Only this girl could make him feel so frustrated.

"Then what the hell are you doing!" she demanded, looking angry.

"I'd tell you if you'd give me the chance to explain!" This was the first ever time Near had lost his cool. He rubbed his temple for a moment. "Just come here."

Distrust in her eyes, Sayu approached Light's desk. "What?"

"Watch this." He set the diary back in its drawer. You could see it sink slightly. When he pulled it back out, it raised just a little bit. Sayu's eyes were wide again.

"Light has a secret drawer?"

"Yes. I want to know what's in it."

Sayu shook her head. "Just pull out the bottom."

"Its not that simple. That was my first instinct, but that's plain stupid to do. So I searched the drawer and I found the small hole to lift up the drawer."

"Underneath?" Near nodded. Sayu crouched down to look underneath. Near studied her for a moment, surprised how easily she fell into the detective role. It fit her well too, the look of concentration on her face or how when she was thinking that she'd catch her bottom lip between her teeth. It was so... human. Cute...

Thankfully, Sayu's "Aha!" broke through Near's thoughts.

"What is it?" he asked, crouching down beside the drawer.

"Look at the size of the hole!" she said excitedly. Near spotted it easily. It was very small, obviously not the regular size of a pencil or pencil lead. Sayu continued, "There's not much that could actually size up to that. Have any idea what it could be?"

It hit him that next instant. "A ball point pen." He got to his feet, grabbed the container of writing utensils he had seen. He settled onto the floor and grabbed the first pen he found. After a second, he tried untwisting the top. This one didn't come off. He dropped it on the floor and grabbed the next one. Sayu did the same. It only took thirty seconds before Near found the first experiment. Unfortunately, it was just slightly too big. He put the pen together and dropped it to the floor. Sayu had the next one, which she tried. It only didn't fit properly.

Finally, after several more attempts, Sayu had a successful fit. Excitedly, she told Near to stand up and catch the fake bottom as it came up. He nodded and got to his feet. As soon as he could fit his fingers around it, he pulled it up slightly. That's when he noticed part of some set up. "Don't remove the insulator," Near ordered. There had to be something of importance in this drawer to have that kind of setup...

When he took it all out, he got a good view of the trap that was set up. And the black notebook sitting in the bottom of the drawer. He snatched that up instantly and then settled the fake bottom back in the drawer. "Okay, you can remove the insulator," he told Sayu, still looking at the blank cover of the notebook. She did just that and stood up.

"What's in it?" Sayu asked, leaning in closer. Near flipped open the book and took a look inside. He frowned.

"Its in a cipher."

"What? Let me see." She took the notebook from Near. Before she had a chance to really look, they heard the sound of a car pulling in. Her eyes widened. "Get downstairs now! If she asks, I'm using the bathroom. I'll get this put away."

After a second, Near nodded and left. Sayu flipped open a few other pages, scanning them and begging that her photographic memory would be reliable yet again. Then she popped open the drawer again and managed to situate the notebook inside, finally getting a good view of the trap. Her brows furrowed together, but her mom calling for her made her drop the drawer back into place and head downstairs.

"There you are Sayu," Sachiko said, smiling. "I'm glad to see you did listen when I told you he wasn't allowed upstairs."

Sayu had been smart enough to grab a English to Japanese translator book while she was in Light's room. Sayu smiled. "Well, Light always has the best books and I figured he wouldn't mind me borrowing a book."

Elle just grinned. When Sachiko turned around, Elle leaned over and whispered, "I knew you guys were dating!" Sayu's eyes widened.

"Elle!" she said shrilly, then glanced at Near. He seemed indifferent at the moment, although he did give Sayu a strange look. Sachiko glanced over her shoulder, but didn't see anything unnatural.

Sachiko decided it would be better to distract whatever Elle and Sayu were getting into. "Thank you, Sayu, Near, for working on dinner while I was gone. The potatoes finished just in time. Elle, why don't you check on the roast."

Now, it was Elle's turn to freeze. "Uh, maybe that's not a great idea," she said, chuckling nervously.

Sachiko frowned. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"...Any time I grabbed anything out of the oven, I always burned myself and either dropped the food in the bottom of the oven, dropped it onto the floor, or all over the counter. Its just a bad idea."

While Elle and Sachiko started discussing the proper ways of taking out a roast, Sayu grabbed her notebook and started scribbling down the few pages she managed to memorize. It was in an obvious cipher and there had to be at least three different ones combined, not to mention some of the letters were the same as regular text. This one would be fun to crack.

Near watched Sayu silently, his curiosity vaguely wandering to how exactly a mind would work differently with the photographic memory. As soon as his mind started wandering to testing, he shut the thought down. It was a dangerous game, a smart mind. It could be so destructive. Somehow, L has managed to reign in his mind, so Near would be able to too. So, for now, he leaned over the table and watched Sayu go to work. She paused momentarily, her gaze flickering up to meet his eyes and then she was right back to writing.

Once everything was filled out, Sayu settled down at the table again. Near took a seat beside her. They both took a moment to look over the math before she continued "teaching" Near how to do the next problem.

#

#

Everyone was finally shuffling out of the door at two in the morning. Besides Laine. Unfortunately, L still had things he needed to discuss with her. He didn't even bother looking at her when the Task Force was gone. After an awkward moment of silence, Laine cleared her throat. "What else did you have to talk to me about?" she asked.

"What do you think about Light Yagami?" he asked, standing up to walk towards the large glass window. He stared out at the entrance, waiting to see each detective leave.

"From what I've learned so far, he just seems like a valuable resource. Then again, that's how he seems outwardly. Internally, there could be a completely different story. He seems almost too perfect."

Exactly what L had always thought. So he was right in his suspicions. "How long will it take you to get through all the information I have so far?" L asked Laine.

"Give me a day or so and I could have everything read through and analyzed," Laine replied.

L nodded. "Then do that. You can stay in this room for tonight and tomorrow, if you must. I want everything read through."

Laine didn't reply. L tried hard not to look at her reflection in the window, focusing on the bustling streets below. "Where is Elle?" she asked finally.

"Don't ask about her," L said, voice firm and flat.

"I have every right to see my own flesh and blood," Laine said bitterly.

L finally turned towards the blond woman, eyes narrowed. "You lost that right the moment you left her in my arms. Besides, she wants nothing to do with you."

"You don't know that. She might be angry, but after I explain-"

"Elle won't care. She knows exactly why you would have done it; it doesn't make the wound hurt any less. She was abandoned before she understood the world. When she was that tiny little girl, just days after you left her, all she did was cry for you. It was the one word she ever said. _"Mommy," _she would cry every night. It should have been an amazing feat, showing her intelligence just being able to speak so young, but that's all she ever spoke of for weeks and then she refused to talk. It took so long to get her to eat properly, once she realized you weren't coming back. It was almost a year before I could fully enjoy the happy toddler."

The paled expression on Laine's face almost made L regret speaking so harshly, but he continued. "Do you know the soonest it was that Elle would even say mom again? It was two year ago that she could do anything with just the word alone. In preschool, all her teachers thought she was mental because she would clam up the moment moms came up. She wouldn't speak the word, or spell it. She couldn't remember what you looked like, but the pain was always present, very clearly in her mind. She wants nothing to do with you. If you bring her up again, I will personally make sure you are off this case and I will do whatever it takes to keep you away from her. Even if that means settling in Japan and banning you from this country ever again. Are we clear?"

For a moment, Laine just stared at L. Then she began to cry. L was at a loss; he had no idea Laine would begin to cry. After a moment of standing there, L couldn't help himself; he went over to Laine's side and reluctantly pulled her into a hug. She clung to the hunched detective, sobbing into his shoulder. He stood stiffly, not exactly sure what it was he was supposed to be doing. He knew what he wanted to do; kiss away her tears and tell her everything would be okay... but he wouldn't fall for her ever again. She ruined that chance the moment she abandoned Elle in his arms.

It took him a moment to realize she was attempting to speak while she cried. He sighed, letting himself get frustrated. "Laine, I have no idea what you're saying while you're crying. If you're going to speak, quit crying."

In response, the FBI agent hit L on his chest, finally glaring up at him with tears still leaking down her cheeks. "You're still as insensitive as always!" Laine responded, although she didn't seem terribly upset.

"What were you saying?" he asked, ignoring her comment. She bit her lip, tears brimming at her eyes. L used his thumb to gently rub away all her tears, but the action seemed to cause more tears.

Voice shaking, Laine tried explaining, "I was supposed to be calm and collected on the assignment. It was simple; I'd be working with my ex and solving one of the most amazing murder mysteries ever. I'd hoped, prayed, that you had actually kept Elle and that I would finally get to meet her. I..." A sob escaped her throat and she rubbed at her face furiously. "I was weak. And scared. You were only supposed to be my leader and instead I fell for you and then I ended up pregnant. Barely twenty and I was pregnant. I was scared to death. How was I supposed to finish school? Get into any Task Force? That was supposed to be my life. I didn't know what to do and I took the weak way out. Instead of just getting through life, I feel like I've lost it. I lost you, my daughter. How is my life any better than when I first learned I was pregnant?" A fresh wave of sobs started. L hated crying, he really did. It was a pointless action, with no real purpose other than to make your head ache and your eyes hurt.

"Laine," L said firmly, but gently. When she didn't immediately lift her head, he raised her chin so she could look at him. She stared at him, wide eyed, with tears still in her eyes.

"I miss you," she whispered, so softly L wasn't sure he had even heard her. Then she kissed him. L wanted to fight, he really did. But he missed her. She was his daughter's mother. She was his lover, the only one he had ever found a true connection with.

So he kissed her back with all the passion, anger, and frustration that had built up for thirteen years. She responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in as close as she could. L's hands found their way under the hem of her shirt, pressing against her side, her back, relishing in the feel of her. Finally, he had her again...

No, he didn't. He never would.

L pulled away, staring down at the flushed, confused Laine. He stepped back, mad at himself for getting sucked back in so easily. "You better work. If any of our conversations or interactions become more than just colleagues, I will send you back to the U.S."

"L, please," she whispered, reaching for him. He stepped back.

"This is your final warning. You broke off all ties the moment you took that step away from Elle. She isn't here any longer. I sent her out of this country until you're gone. The sooner we solve the case, the sooner I can get back to _my _daughter. Good night Laine."

With that said, L turned around and went over to the connecting door of the hotel rooms, not looking back. Once in the other room, L settled down in his other chair, prepared to think over the Kira Case. Instead, as he looked at the paper, a drop of moisture dropped onto the paper. He looked up at the ceiling, but it was clear that that was not the origin. Hesitantly, L let his thumb wander up to his eyes. He was... _crying. _Reluctantly, L put down the paper. Bowed his head and did the unthinkable; he cried.

#

#

Sayu started clearing away the dinner mess on the dining table. Instantly, Near stood up to help Sayu. She giggled, whispered in his ear about going to his house Friday, and then telling him loudly to sit and relax. Reluctantly, Near followed Elle and Sachiko out to their living room. Sayu smiled and went into the kitchen. Near really got along with her family! Hopefully, Sachiko would let her go over to Near's. She really wanted to be able to help him out too.

Once all the food was put away and the dishes were in the dishwasher, Sayu walked out to the living room to see how everything was going. Sachiko and Elle were both talking with Near, who seemed slightly uncomfortable, but still he talked. She couldn't help, but grin slightly as she came over and plopped down by Near at the end of the couch. "So what are you guys talking about?" she asked Near quietly while Sachiko and Elle talked about something.

"We just finished talking about my household. They find some of the antics funny," he answered back quietly.

Before Sayu could say anything, Sachiko interrupted, "Sayu, Near told me his foster family wanted to meet you as well this Friday. I told him that would be fine, but you know what you're expected to do there. Don't go to his room or even do anything inappropriate there."

Sayu flushed. "Mom! That is so not funny to say, especially right in front of him," Sayu said, glancing at Near nervously. The small smirk on his face made her flush more and she smacked his arm lightly.

Sachiko chuckled softly. "I just want him to know the rules as well. I don't take my daughter dating lightly."

"We're not dating," both Sayu and Near argued, Sayu sounding more embarrassed and Near just stating a fact. But when Sayu glanced at Near, he had a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks too. She couldn't help, but smile... Until she glanced at Sachiko and saw the grin on her mother's face. She quickly looked away and asked Near, "So do you have any other questions for our homework?"

Near shook his head. "No, I think I'm finally catching on some. I'll probably need help with other assignments in the future though."

"You're always welcome here, Near," Sachiko said as she stood up. "Its getting near eight. Why don't you both get all your homework rounded up and then you can just hang out in the living room until Near's guardians pick him up."

Sayu nodded and both her and Near walked out of the living room to the kitchen. As soon as they were out of ear shot, Near asked softly, "Did you get all those few pages of ciphers written down?"

"Yeah. Do you want a copy to work on as well?"

"That would be best. We can compare the pages on Friday and maybe Monday before our study time Wednesday. Unless we solve it before then. In which case, we'll have to meet up sooner. Can you get any more pages copied down between then?"

Sayu shrugged, slightly nervous. Never before had she ever peaked around her brother's room. He trusted her a lot and she didn't want to bring that trust. But who needs to hide a notebook of very complex ciphers in a very dangerous trap like that? If she had just pulled up that lid, Sayu would have started his room on fire. There had to be something more with the notebook than just some secret diary thing. But what? "I can try," Sayu said slowly.

"It makes you nervous," he stated as he handed Sayu a notebook she hadn't seen before. Her brows furrowed together and she flipped open to a page. It was ciphered notes about Kira!

"You have a whole notebook?"  
>"Its actually the notebook I'm going to give you tomorrow. I'm going to finish copying the rest of my notes in our first cipher so that you can study what we already know."<p>

"You'll just tear out the pages I copy on then?"

"Yes."

Sayu nodded, pulled out the papers, and started writing down Light's ciphers. "I'm pretty sure that this is multiple ciphers combined together with the regular alphabet. I'm going to try to find a crack code in his room tonight if he isn't home. Sometimes he is, but as of late, he hasn't been often. Otherwise, we'll just have to try cracking it ourselves."

Near nodded. "If you find anything, take a picture and copy it down."

Sachiko poked her head in at that moment. She said, "Near, your foster parents are here."

"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Yagami," Near said, quickly taking back the notebook Sayu had just finished writing in. Sayu quickly shoved the rest of her work in her bag and followed Near out of the kitchen. She set the bag by the staircase and walked over to the front door to greet the other guests.

Near's foster parents seemed very kind, looking only in their late twenties. They all talked with Sachiko for several minutes while Sayu, Elle, and Near just sort of stood there. Then his foster parents spoke to Elle and Sayu for a minute or so. Sayu tried her hardest, but she was surprisingly nervous about meeting them.

Once all the pleasantries were out and Sachiko's offer for tea was presented, the group of three excused themselves to go home. Sachiko reluctantly left Sayu alone with Near and his foster family. Elle excused herself to go back to the living room, and suddenly Near's foster parents said they could wait outside for him. Sayu smiled shyly at Near when everyone was gone. "Why is everyone assuming that we are dating?" she asked, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Near shrugged, glancing over his shoulder.

"Most parents seem to guess that whenever a guy and a girl are good friends and want to start studying together. It means nothing really, but they wouldn't listen even if you told them the truth."

Sayu nodded, glancing down the hallway. So far, Sachiko was still out of the hall. Sayu hugged Near, smiling into his shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Hopefully, one of us will have something."

"Yes, hopefully," Near murmured, surprising Sayu by wrapping his arms around her also. She relished the moment before pulling away and bidding him goodbye. Once the front door was closed, Sayu went into the living room to sit with Elle.

Before Elle had a chance to ask her anything, Sachiko walked into the room. "Now, Sayu, you know I have to tell Father about this," she said, drying one of the big dishes Sayu had washed.

"_Moooom_," Sayu whined, trying to plead with her eyes, "We don't have to tell him. Near is just a friend I swear!"

"I tell him about boyfriends or friends. It doesn't matter, your father has every right to know."

Sayu huffed. "Can't we wait just a tiny bit? Until like next week?"

"What difference does it make?"

"Cause then he has a reason to ground me longer!"

"He is not going to ground you longer for having a guy friend. I won't let him."

Sayu pouted, but it was obvious Sachiko wasn't going to budge. "Fine," she grumbled, settling into the couch and staring at the channel Elle had pulled up.

After several silent moments, Elle finally said quietly, "I can't believe you're lying to your mom about a boyfriend!"

Sayu growled at Elle. "I'm not lying about it. He isn't my boyfriend. He's not even interested."

"I beg to differ. He was checking you out all night."

"Don't lie, Elle."

"I'll stop lying when you do," she said jokingly, poking the young Yagami girl in her side. Sayu giggled and poked Elle back.

"Its not a lie, I swear. We didn't even do anything when you were off with Mother. Besides, why did you suddenly have to go anywhere for tampons and underwear?"

Elle grinned. "I thought I'd give Near and you some alone time. When we returned, I noticed he couldn't really keep his eyes off you. I assumed you guys like kissed or something."

"No, we really didn't." For a moment, Sayu was quiet. Then something came to mind. "Do you like cracking ciphers?"

"Of course!" Elle said excitedly. "Do you have an interesting one?"

"Oh, its more than interesting. I'll go grab it." She grabbed the two papers out of her backpack and fell onto the couch, handing over the papers to Elle.

Within a three seconds, Elle's brows had furrowed together and she was already working out the problem. She glanced at each of the pages for a minute and bit her bottom lip. "Did you write out this cipher?" Elle asked her, glancing at Sayu. Sayu shook her head.

"I found this in a notebook."

"This is incredible. I have never seen three different ciphers get so entangled in such a complicated manner. I wouldn't believe it until now."

"Can you crack it at all?"

Elle shrugged. "I can try. Father would be better at this, but I'm not seeing him for four more days. Do you mind if I take it over there?"

"No, not at all. So long as you tell me exactly what it says."

"I promise I will."

"I'll get you a copy tonight. Hopefully, once we figure out the pattern, the rest will be a lot easier to crack."

"There's more?!" Elle looked surprised. "How much?"

"I have no idea. We'll have to see."

Sayu settled back into the couch, finally feeling like she had really helped take a step forward in the Kira Case.

**~A/N~**

**Sorry about such a long update. I hope the chapter was at least half as you expected. Tell me how I did.  
><strong>

**XmX**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

L felt uncomfortable. This was exactly why he never cried. He had his first headache in nearly twenty years, his eyes felt dry and swollen, and his cheeks felt raw. He hadn't been able to stop crying for hours. Even Watari had no idea what to do. He just brought more treats to L, but L wasn't interested in any food. He had no appetite for treats or anything really. He just sat there and let the tears fall.

He had a feeling it was very obvious he had been crying too. He was very aware of the fact his face got very pink during and after crying. So he had Watari bring him a mirror. He was very right. His face clearly said he had a breakdown. He rubbed at his temples, frustrated. Laine just had to complicate everything, didn't she? Why couldn't she just stay away? Or better yet, she could have never brought up their relationship... or kissed him. That was his downfall. He still felt for Laine, after all this time… And that wasn't okay at all. He needed to cut the emotional ties he had with the FBI agent.

L looked up at the clock; it read 7:30. He stood up from the chair and shuffled to the window. He looked down at the streets below, watching as everyone went about their day. He kept a close eye on the street below. He wished Elle would be coming by, like she would on a day of school. He missed her dearly. She was the only thing he'd sacrifice himself for. She had to be safe. If only she could still be with him…

A knock on his door, interrupted his thoughts. "Come in," he said coolly, still staring out the window.

"Ryuzaki," Watari said, closing the door. "Do you still wish to have the Kira Investigation come in today?"

L hesitated. He knew it was dire to continue with their work, but no one was finding any new leads and Laine still wasn't done researching… "If they wish to come in to use their resources, they may. Otherwise it'll be a free day off for them."

"All right, I'll call and let them all know. Do you wish for Laine to be woken yet?"

"No," L answered automatically. "She's been up all night. Let her rest a little longer."

Watari was silent for a moment. "Why are you still cooperating with her? You know very well she was just a peace offering from the FBI for withdrawing so easily. You didn't have to accept it."

"The FBI would have been highly offended Watari. I know you are very aware of that."

"You could have smoothed over the arguments very easily."

"I'm also aware you're just coming with excuses. You know as well as I do that you greatly dislike Laine."

"You are also aware that I know you're coming with excuses to keep her around."

Reluctantly, L turned to face Watari. "She is merely a business partner."

"That's what you said last time, and you ended up with a kid. I don't wish the same fate again."

"I'm very aware and I wish it even less. Elle is enough of a handful. We don't need a third L running around."

"Yes, you are getting old, Ryuzaki."

L frowned at Watari. "I'm not getting old."

"You're almost thirty. That is getting old." Watari had a small smile on his face.

L turned away. "Call the investigative team. And set up a call to Elle. I wish to speak with her." Watari left without a word. L had forgotten his birthday was coming up. It was still strange to think of birthdays. He never worried about any until Elle came into the picture.

Watari didn't knock on the door this time, just popped in with a phone in hand. L took the phone between his thumb and pointer and put the phone to his ear. "Elle?"

"_Oh, Father, I'm so glad you wanted to talk," _Elle said.

Just hearing her voice grounded L to the present. "I just wanted to see how you're settling in, Elle."

"_I love seeing Sayu so much. I just wish I could see you Father. I have something for you too!"_

L frowned. "What do you mean?"

"_Sayu found something. It's some sort of cipher and it's hard. I can't even crack it and I studied it all night."_

L's eyes widened. "Where did she find this?"

"_She wouldn't give me any details. Her and this new kid at our school were studying it. Maybe it was for some class, but even the advanced classes don't offer this! I would be part of it if they did."_

"Who is this new kid?" Maybe there was some connection with Kira through him.

"_His name was Near. That's all I got."_

L froze. "What does he look like?!" he demanded, voice raising slightly.

"_H-he's not Japanese. Really blonde hair, almost white, and he's kind of short," _she said, sounding surprised. _"Why?"_

Hesitantly, L said, "Don't worry about it. How has your sleeping been?"

They talked for a while longer, but L's mind was elsewhere. If he was correct, and he was ninety-nine percent sure he was, this was N. What was he doing in Japan? Was he investigating the Kira Case as well? There had been no alerts from the Orphanage, unless…

L said goodbye, hung up the phone, and said loudly, "Watari." The old man was in the room within seconds. "Have there been any alerts from Wammy's House?"

"Not that I've been aware of, Ryuzaki. I haven't had the chance to check for about a month, though, so it could be possible."

"Check that now, Watari. We may have someone out." L left his room and went to the investigative side. Laine was still in the room, asleep on the couch. She had a blanket thrown over her and her mouth was open just a bit, as it would be any time she had stayed with L overnight. But talking to Elle had given him the resolve he needed emotionally and he touched her shoulder. She woke up instantly, meeting L's eye. She sat up, attempting to rub the sleep out of her eyes unnoticed.

"I'm sorry, Ryuzaki. I didn't mean to fall asleep," she murmured, not meeting his eyes.

"If anyone of the team is coming today, they'll be here soon. You can sleep if you'd like, otherwise the shower is down the hall to the right," L said, already looking away from her. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"Nothing you haven't already discovered. I want all the surveillance tapes from that train station and five blocks away from each direction. I'm sure that it's a dead lead, but it never hurts to have the extra footage."

"There wasn't much footage outside of the train station, but I'll have it all mailed here by tonight. Watari will talk with Koreyoshi Kitamura about clearance."

"Ryuzaki," Watari said, walking into the room. "There was a flag, just two weeks ago." Watari just stared at Laine. She kept eye contact for another minute, then looked away, and stood up.

"I'll go get a shower," she said and left the room.

L walked over to Watari. "Was it N?"

"Yes. According to the files, he's going under the name Near Clinton. I've looked for the name in Japan, but so far, there hasn't been any record. So, I'm broadening the search to just 'Near'."

L nodded. "Let me know when you find any results. I can narrow down the rest."

"I'm starting with passport registration first."

"No, start with police files, foster cares, and contact the FBI. If I'm correct, he's investigating something and the only way he would have been able to get here undetected under another alias would be through people of the law," L said, picking up Laine's notes. She had very similar theories to his, as she'd stated. She was very adamant about the videos though… "Watari, contact Kitamura. Laine wants access to more of the video footage around the train station."

"Which cameras would you like?" L could hear the slight annoyance in his voice.

"I want any footage within a thirty foot radius of the station." L walked over to the window and stared out at the streets again.

#

#

Near glanced at his phone under his desk. His brows furrowed. There was an alert from the FBI. He glanced at the time. Third hour didn't end for another fifteen minutes. He had to check this out now. Near raised his hand. "What do you need, Near?" Mrs. Akiyami asked.

"I need to use the bathroom, if that's all right ma'am," he said politely.

She nodded, taking the sign out sheet. Near scribbled in his name and left. As soon as he was out in the hall, he dialed in the FBI number. "What seems to be the issue?" Near asked, glancing at both ends of the hall.

"_Sir, there has been an alert that someone in the area has been investigating you. I'm trying to find the IP address as we speak."_

"Send me the source to my laptop. I'll take a look at it later. Let me know if you find anything else." Near hung up and frowned. It had to be L. The chances it wasn't were very slim. Would L be willing to work with him on catching Kira? With two great minds, he was sure they could catch him in no time.

Sayu looked curious as soon as Near walked back into the classroom. He gave her a slight nod, meaning talk after class. They'd gotten a whole communications thing down during second hour. She learned and memorized things quite quickly. It was very impressive. He wondered if her photographic memory was more than just reading text. He made a mental note to ask later and started on his schoolwork again.

He thought as he worked on the very simple assignment. How had L even thought of looking for him? He was very aware that Watari hadn't been focusing as much on the Wammy's House, so he had thought his disappearance would have been unnoticed for a good month at least. It was also very unlikely Roger would have called in his disappearance. While Near was one of the top competitors for L's title, Roger was also very aware of the fact that Near was coming back after the investigation. So what could have peaked L's interest...?

Elle. It was so obvious it wasn't even funny. Elle would be the only reason that L would show interest in some young boy that showed up. But why would Elle mention anything to her father? She had no reasons to be suspicious of him. She even seemed keen on setting up Sayu and him. Unless... Would Sayu share any information?

He glanced back at Sayu, who was furiously scribbling away at the assignment. It took him a second to realize she wasn't actually focusing on the assignment, but the cipher. She must have sensed him staring, because she looked up suddenly and met his eyes. A small, almost shy smile appeared on her face instantly and she cocked her head to the side, asking him if there was something wrong. She really was something else... Reluctantly, Near shook his head and looked away. It was better not to worry about this for now. For now, he'd have to worry about what L might figure out or what the detective might do.

Eventually, the bell rang, for the start of lunch. Near stood up and started packing up his things. He knew within a minute, Sayu would be ready and by his desk. She didn't disappoint his assessment, although he was surprised by the pile of papers in her arms. "Why are you so keen on cracking the cipher so quickly?" he asked her, shuffling his notebook into the bag.

"I have to know exactly what Light wanted to hide," Sayu said softly. "There's no reason that he would want to hide anything so badly! So why the trap for a notebook? And what does such a complicated cipher hide from everyone?!" She sounded so angry and confused...

Near looked up at her face, really studying what she looked like. He noticed the shadows under her eyes and the tired expression on her face. He frowned. "Did you sleep last night, Sayu?"

Instantly, Sayu flushed and broke eye contact. "I... lost track of time," she said softly.

"Sayu, you need to sleep," he said, very aware he sounded like he was scolding. "I need you and your mental abilities as rested as possible. You can't investigate something like this if you're lacking sleep." Reluctantly, Sayu nodded. Near decided to ask, "Did you crack any of the cipher?"

Sayu grinned. "I did. Since I stayed up last night, I managed to figure out there's a fourth cipher that goes with this. It's kind of like a... 'cipher lock'. It's a precode that changed the rest of the words completely. It helped protect whatever Light is hiding."

Near nodded. "I didn't try going at that angle. Have you studied ciphers before?"

"Yep," she said. Near nodded, slinging his bag over his shoulder, and started walking out of the room. Sayu was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Are you going to have lunch with Ai again?" The tone of her voice was different, almost bitter.

"Is something going on between Ai and you?" Near asked, glancing at Sayu.

Sayu almost lost her footing and stammered, "N-no, why would you ask that?"

"Your tone sounded off. Besides, I need some peace and quiet and they aren't exactly quiet people."

Sayu giggled. "That's a nice way of putting it." She hesitated. "I'm guessing I should probably go find my friends then too."

"Why? I didn't say I had to be completely alone. You can join me if you'd like to."

He noticed the grin that came on Sayu's face instantly. "Okay, I'll just go get my lunch. I'll meet you at our same spot?"

Near nodded and watched Sayu as she hurried down the hall. He turned to his locker, opened it up, and pulled out his laptop case. He switched his school bag for the laptop case and started out to the same spot him and Sayu often played chess. He settled down on the grass and set up the laptop in front of him. He pulled up the link and started searching for the IP address.

After several grueling minutes and stumbling upon several false setups, Near glanced up. It was curious that Sayu wasn't here already. It never took more than three minutes to get a meal. With a shrug, Near started back on the IP address. This couldn't be anyone else, but L. It was just too complicated to be anything else. From the messages he's gotten so far, even the FBI couldn't find the source.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching. He didn't even have to look up to know it was Sayu. He could just tell it was her. He felt her settle in beside him and knew she was looking at the computer screen. After a moment, he glanced at her. "How's the tracking going?" she asked, meeting his eye.

"Not too good," he said, looking back at his computer.

"Why are you tracking an IP address?" she asked, studying the screen.

"… Someone's been looking for me," he said.

"Do you have any idea who?" she asked, sounding concerned.

After a moment, Near nodded and said, "L."

"Why would he be looking for you?" she asked, frowning.

Near hesitated, then said, "I'm not sure, but he must have gotten a tip somewhere to check the orphanage I was at, because that's where the alert started. Now I'm being searched everywhere in Japan for my location."

Sayu's eyes widened. "Elle," she breathed.

Near nodded. "I was afraid that might be who tipped L off. Maybe she didn't intentionally-"

"No, this is all my fault," she whispered, looking ashamed. "I gave her a copy of the cipher hoping she'd be able to crack it. She must have shared it with her father."

Near was surprised he didn't feel upset. He knew he should be, but he didn't feel upset. "You can't just share any of the information I give you to Elle," he said calmly, looking back at the screen. "If you're going to work with me, I need you to be only on my side of this."

"She wants to help, Near," Sayu said. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"Yes. She's close with L and I can't have him figuring out my location so quickly or easily. I'm sure he's narrowing his search down to the Kanto region already."

"Near-"

"If you can't keep our information separate from her, I can't work with you."

He could feel Sayu's gaze on him, asking him if he meant that. He fought the urge to feel uncomfortable. Finally, she mumbled, "Okay," and settled back in the tree. He glanced at her again. She wasn't looking at him, just staring down at her feet.

He sighed. He really, really hated domestics. This was exactly why he never involved anyone else… "Why do you want to share with her so badly?" he asked.

Sayu hesitated. "She promised to get information from L's investigation this weekend… and so did Hitomi. Hitomi's going to try anyways."

Near's eyes widened. "They'll both give you direct information from the case?"

"Elle's all for sharing the information. Hitomi's more hesitant, only because this is her career on the line."

Near nodded, but he wasn't really paying attention. Would it be worth possibly sacrificing his freedom from Wammy's House to get possibly valuable information? "If you can get valuable information from L, talk with her, but you tell her she can't say anything else about me."

Sayu nodded, eyes wide with happiness. "Thank you Near!" She hugged him, catching him off guard. But he found he didn't mind her hugging him…

#

#

Hitomi hit the button for the thirteenth floor and watched the number increase uneasily. This was a huge favor to ask of L. But Hitomi was very aware of the fact Sayu would continue researching, with or without this information. If Hitomi could give her more insight so she went in less blind that would make her feel so much better. She couldn't risk Sayu getting herself killed because she didn't know exactly what she was dealing with. She just hoped L would agree with her. The elevator dinged, bringing Hitomi out of her thoughts. Hitomi took a deep breath and started down the hall, to room 1313. L really had a thing with thirteen…

She knocked on the door twice, waited two beats and then knocked eleven more times. _Thirteen in total_… Watari opened the door and smiled at Hitomi. "I'm glad you're coming in today, Hitomi. So far, you're the only one."

"Is there a reason L gave the option of not coming in?" she asked as she took off her black flats.

"There's been a lot going on over the night," Watari said, "Between Ryuzaki and Laine."

"Oh." Hitomi nodded slowly. "Is it at all possible to speak with Ryuzaki in private today?"

"…I'll have to see if Ryuzaki is available," Watari said. "I'll let you know with the details."

"Thank you, Watari," she said, smiling at the old man. She really did love Watari; he was just so kind.

She walked into the living room, the main headquarters. She hesitated when she saw Laine, hair damp, sitting on the couch. She looked up and smiled hesitantly at Hitomi. "Good morning. I wasn't sure if anyone was going to be coming in."

"Yeah, well this is my only case right now," she mumbled, glancing away from Laine. She was surprised by how uncomfortable she was around the FBI agent. She knew hers and Ryuzaki's history... and quite frankly that bothered her. She didn't know why, but she was upset that this... blonde lady having her clutches around the world's greatest detective... She dispersed the thoughts and settled in an arm chair. She pulled out the notebook she had been putting notes down in and pulled the case file she'd been studying over to her.

She didn't get far in her notes before Watari appeared in the living room. "Ryuzaki is ready for you," he told Hitomi.

She noticed Laine stiffen from the corner of her eyes and couldn't help, but grin a little. She stood up and followed Watari out of the room. L was facing the window when Watari let her into the room. He didn't turn to her when he asked, "What did you need to discuss, Hitomi?"

She hesitated for a second, then decided to start by saying, "Sayu's been investigating the Kira Case."

She barely noticed that L stiffened slightly. "I was afraid of that. Elle brought me some interesting news about a cipher that Sayu had."

Hitomi frowned. "Do you know where she got it?"

"Elle didn't have any details…" He turned around to Hitomi. She was surprised by the detective's face. It was obvious he hadn't slept at all last night… and it looked like he had been crying.

"Is everything okay, Ryuzaki?" she asked softly.

"It's been a very complicated night," he said, face blank. Reluctantly, she nodded, but she was concerned. She wished she had a place to bother L about his issues. He continued, "So what other news did you want to bring other than the fact Sayu is showing interest in the Kira Case?"

"She's aware that Father and I are on the case," Hitomi said, hesitant.

"She wants information," he finished, glancing out the window. "Has there been a boy she's been around lately? He has hair that is probably so blonde his hair seems white and he's obviously not from Japan."

"Yes," she said, slightly surprised. "Do you know him?"

"… I have a special task I need you to do for me, Hitomi. I need you to track down anyone with the name Near," L said, turning back towards the window.

"That's Sayu's new friend," Hitomi said slowly, eyes widening. "Is he dangerous?!"

"No, he's not dangerous. He's on our side, but he could unintentionally put Sayu in more danger than I'd like."

"Are you going to pull him out of Japan?" Hitomi asked, sounding concerned.

"No, I don't think that would be the right idea," L said. "For now, let's see what he does. You can share some of the information with Sayu and Near. Try to find Near's location if you can."

"I can do that," Hitomi said.

"Don't do this around Laine. I don't need her knowing about this either," L said. "Just stay in here for the day."

Hitomi nodded, feeling a burst of happiness in her chest. She quickly squelched the feeling and asked, "What laptop should I use?"

"Use your own person laptop. It'll be okay for him to trace your computer." L hesitated a second, then said, "And you can send Sayu a message. Let her know you'll have information ready for her tonight. I'll send a package with you."

Hitomi nodded, thanked L and pulled out her own computer. While the computer booted, she texted Sayu.

#

#

Sayu jumped as soon as her phone started to vibrate. Near glanced at her across from the table, but didn't say anything. She pulled up the text. _'I'll be over for dinner tonight. I have information.'_

Her eyes widened and a grin broke out across her face. "Near, I have information from the Kira Case," she whispered.

Near raised his eyebrows. "She gave it to you willingly?"

"I think L gave her permission. She said she was going to ask. And no, she doesn't know you're involved in any of this."

"You'll have to share all the information with me tomorrow," Near said, looking deep in thought.

"…Do you think L is going to connect you with this too?" she asked softly.

"Yes, but if he's willing to give information knowing I'm involved, it's his way of saying I have his permission. I can't endanger your life though."

"I endangered it myself," Sayu said, glancing at her schoolwork. "Oh, do you have that notebook for me?"

"Yes. I figured I'd give it to you after school though," he said, scribbling on his paper again. Sayu nodded, starting on her work again. She glanced at Near when she didn't think he'd be looking. He really was something else, in his light colors and odd behaviors. Why was he so different?

With a sigh, she tucked some stray hair behind her ear and started on her math.

**~A/N~**

**I'm so sorry for the late late late update. It's been a very busy couple months, since my grandpa passed away and my schoolwork is so overwhelming and college classes and then on top of it planning my own graduation. I'm really sorry!**

**I hope you like the shadowing of possible certain future events including Hitomi and L. I'm just testing the waters and seeing if I even like it. Tell me what you think.**

**R&R!**

**XmX**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"I'm pretty sure Near is aware that I've found his location," Hitomi said softly. She heard L shuffle over beside her and he crouched down.

"Where is he at?"

"Currently, he's in a foster home between my home and your first hotel location. I've already sent the address to your phone." Hitomi typed a few more moments and then told him, "I have his phone number as well. Would you like to give him a call?"

L looked thoughtful for a moment, his head cocked to the side and his thumbnail between his teeth. Hitomi couldn't help, but stare. He was so different. Then he nodded and stood up. "It will be better to gain some sort of control on his angle of the case. What's the number?"

Hitomi recited the number, watching L punch the numbers into his phone. It should have been awkward, but he had such a grace with all his strange movements and behaviors.

Then he was turning away, leaving Hitomi alone as he consulted with this Near boy.

#  
>#<p>

Near glanced at his phone that was vibrating, momentarily forgetting about the chess game. There wasn't a number on the screen, but the name was clear; L. Near flipped the phone open instantly, pressing a button on the side of the phone to scramble his voice. "Who is really calling?" he asked, glancing at Sayu. She finally seemed to notice that he was distracted. A curious expression came to her face.

"_N, why have you left the Orphanage? There wasn't an authorization that allowed you freedom to investigate any case."_

It was obviously L. Near cursed mentally, but kept his composure. He stood up and gave Sayu the signal to wait a moment. He walked away a few feet, keeping an eye out for anybody trying to listen in, and finally said, "No one tried stopping me. I let Roger know I'd return as soon as this case was over. I've been keeping tabs and I thought you could use the help." He knew saying that would sting the Greatest Detective's ego, but he didn't mind. He felt ready to test these limits.

"_You know as well as I do that I don't mind the investigation, despite not needing any help-" _Near could even hear the slight annoyance in his voice, _"What I don't like is the fact you're involving civilians in the matter as well."_

"So, Hitomi has been talking with you. I thought maybe just Elle bringing a cipher to you might start the investigation, but it's Hitomi that's really caught your attention."

"_Where did you find this cipher?" _L demanded.

"That's my own collateral. Since when does L have time to have a child?" The silence at the other end of the phone was almost deafening. Near knew he shouldn't have said anything, but he couldn't help himself.

"_Why do you want out of Wammy's House so badly?"_ L asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I want to help solve this case, start my own agency, and have a different title outside of L. Eventually, I want the L legacy, but that can all come in due time. For now, I want free range to work on this case, even involving Sayu Yagami. She wants this chance to prove herself and I'm willing to help her."

"_If anything happens to her, I will have you arrested. I want weekly reports on anything you could have found. And more importantly, I want to know where you found this cipher."_

"I won't share the location of my cipher, but I will report to you directly every week, on one condition."

"_You're as sly and dangerous as M. What do you want?" _He was obviously angry by this point, despite trying to keep a calm tone.

"I want direct information too, not just from Hitomi. I'm sure you understand the need for that." L was silent for quite some time. Near waited patiently. He glanced at Sayu and saw her concerned look. He just shrugged his shoulders, turning away again. He'd tell her soon enough.

Finally, L said, _"Very well. We will speak every Saturday evening, including this week."_

"That is fair enough. I will speak with you at nine PM then." Near hung up before L could say more. He was surprised how frustrated he felt. It really was stupid to involve Sayu in this matter. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

"Hey, is everything okay?" He could sense Sayu beside him, could almost feel her breath on his neck. She had her hand on his arm; the heat radiated straight from her touch.

He closed his eyes. "That was L. He knows I'm investigating, threatened me, but then agreed to let me help on a few conditions. So, our investigation is safe for now. Are you able to meet with me every Saturday?" Near tried to get control over his frustration while Sayu thought.

"I should be able to. But the fact that we'll be spending almost frequent time with each other on a Saturday is going to make my parents think we're dating," she said slowly, watching his reaction.

"Just let them think what they want. If I have to pretend to be your boyfriend, I don't care," he said calmly. Near could see the thoughtful look on her face, but there seemed to be more emotion than just that on her mind.

Reluctantly, Sayu nodded and said, "Yeah, I should be fine coming over then. We'd have to switch our study times to Saturday then."

"That's fine." The school bell rang before they could say more.

"I packed up everything already. You can head to class if you'd like, I'll pick all of this up."

"No, I will help you." They both walked over to their tree and Near slipped his computer bag over his shoulder. He asked Sayu, "When will you be meeting with Hitomi?"

"She said she was coming over tonight. We'll probably talk about it after dinner," Sayu answered. Near glanced at Sayu again. She didn't really seem into this right now.

"What's wrong, Sayu?" he asked, stopping. Sayu looked at Near and shrugged.

"There's nothing. Do you want me to call you tonight after I talk with Hitomi or do you just want me to tell you Friday?"

"If you have a lot of information to share at once give me a call. Otherwise, we can just talk tomorrow evening," Near told her.

"Okay." They both started towards the school. Near looked at Sayu; she still seemed out of it, like she wasn't really there. But he could tell she wouldn't talk about what was bothering her, no matter what it was.

"Do you want a ride over to my place right after school?" Near asked her as they made their way into the Biology classroom.

"I think that's most convenient. Unless you think I should come over later."

"No, right after school gives us more time to work on the case."

The bell rang before they could say more. Near continued studying Sayu throughout the day, confused by her emotions. She just didn't seem like herself suddenly.

#

#

Sayu walked outside, talking with Ai and Rika. Near had left part way through the day for some kind of family emergency. She noticed Hitomi parked at the pickup area and told her friends, "We'll definitely have to hang out this weekend! I'll see you guys later." Then she was off, running towards her sister's car happily. She couldn't believe she was going to learn things about the Kira Case tonight! It was so exciting. And L was even allowing this to happen.

She could tell something was on Hitomi's mind as soon as she opened the passenger door. "Hey, is everything okay?" she asked her sister, buckling the seat belt.

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. I do want to yell at you, but I'm doubting that's going to help a whole lot," she said,smiling slightly. "You're just like Light and I."

"Yeah, except that you two weren't involved in such a dangerous case," Sayu murmured, glancing out the window.

"That's what I don't like. And Ryuzaki won't stop you or Near," she said, looking frustrated. "Do you have any idea how dangerous Kira is?"

"Yes! Everyone knows. I'm not an idiot, I'm being smart about all of this. Besides, I'm not directly joining a task force or anything. Just a small group of people."

"Who does this group involve?" Hitomi asked, curious.

"Are you going to tell L what I tell you?"

"Call him Ryuzaki. And no, I won't."

Sayu nodded and told her softly, "Right now, it's just me and Near, but he has the FBI on his side as well."

"Why is the FBI supporting him?"

"He had a connection that helped hook him up." Sayu honestly had no idea how Near convinced the FBI to help him, but she said something that sounded good at least.

Hitomi fell silent, deep in thought. While sitting in the silence, Sayu realized something; she had no idea who Near was exactly. She just followed him along blindly because she was desperate to help prove herself to everyone that she could do something. And that wasn't very smart. She pulled out her phone and quickly sent a text, _We need to talk _to Near.

_N: ?_

_S: I just realized a few things, talking to Hitomi about you. We can talk about it in person later. What was the emergency?_

Sayu didn't think it was a super smart idea to just start texting him about this. She wanted to get some actual answers once she started talking to Near about himself.

Hitomi was quiet all the way home, until she parked the car across the street. Then she asked, "Do you remember our old childhood code?"

"Of course."

Hitomi smiled. "I forgot, you have that lucky photographic memory. I wish I had inherited that from _Ooka-san_ too."

"Why do you ask?" Sayu questioned, curious.

Hitomi reached in the backseat for her purse. She pulled out a large envelope and handed it to Sayu. "I worked on this all afternoon. It's all the information I could get down in two hours, along with a Flash drive with some videos. Ryuzaki was courteous enough to share the videos. He wants all of this given to Near by tomorrow. He does not want this getting into the wrong hands. He does not know I copied down information for you though. Make sure to share that with Near."

Sayu stared at her sister, a wide smile on her face. "Oh, you're the greatest sister!" Sayu hugged Hitomi as well as she could in the car.

Hitomi laughed. "I'm glad I could make you so happy. Dad and Light are going to be here for dinner tonight too. Isn't that exciting?" Sayu froze, eyes wide. Suddenly, seeing Light made her nervous. She knew about the strange notebook in his desk, she just didn't know what it really meant. Maybe she should ask him about it? But then how is she going to begin explaining how "she stumbled" upon the this notebook. She could just imagine how well it would go to explain that her friend Near was sneaking through his room looking for evidence linking him to Kira. That was definitely what she wanted to do. "Uh, Sayu?"

Sayu snapped to attention and smiled at Hitomi. "Sorry about that, I just spaced for a moment. Wanna head inside?"

"Sure..." Sayu hopped out of the car and waited for Hitomi before they crossed the street.

"I'm just going to go put this upstairs, then I'll meet you guys downstairs. Keep Elle distracted please!" Sayu hurried past Hitomi up the stairs before Elle even saw her and bee-lined for her bedroom. She popped open a small compartment and slipped the whole envelope inside. Then she hurried back downstairs before anyone got suspicious.

As soon as she reached the bottom step, Soichiro stepped into the house. Sayu squealed and ran up to her father. "Oh, I'm so glad you're home!" she said happily, hugging him close.

He chuckled, ruffling Sayu's hair. "I'm glad to see you too, Sayu. Are you behaving in school?"

"Of course! And my grades are almost perfect!" she said happily. Suddenly, she remembered the letter her teacher had wanted to give to her parents and added, "I got a note from my math teacher for you too! I'll be right back." She scurried off, just as Light walked into the house. She could hear him talking to Sachiko downstairs.

Her phone beeped suddenly, just as she opened her backpack. She pulled out her phone fast and glanced at the message; it was from Elle. She frowned and opened the text. _'Hey, Father came to get me since your family was going to be home. He said he wanted dinner together. See you later tonight!'_

Sayu sighed sadly. She was hoping to have someone on her side tonight. Oh well, guess she was on her own. She grabbed her letter and hurried on back downstairs. Everyone was in the kitchen right now, sitting around the table. "Oh, how was your school day, Sayu?" Sachiko asked, smiling at her daughter.

"It was pretty much the usual. I have no homework tonight though, I managed to finish it all in class," she said happily, handing the letter to Soichiro.

Soichiro looked over the letter, a curious expression on his face. "Your math teacher wants me to come in and talk about your class."

"He said it wasn't anything bad," Sayu said, shrugging.

"So, Sayu, Mother told me you have a boyfriend," Light started, a grin on his face.

Sayu froze, looking at Sachiko with wide eyes. "You said you wouldn't say he was my boyfriend, cause he's not!" Sayu said.

Sachiko smiled. "I told him you had a new guy friend. Light and your father both think he's your boyfriend," she told Sayu.

"I vouch with her," Hitomi added, smiling at Sayu.

The next several minutes were extremely embarrassing for Sayu, between Light's and Hitomi's teasing, Soichiro's interrogating, and Light's laughing. Eventually, the topic changed to Elle for a brief set of time, and then Sachiko was getting dinner ready. Sayu got up and started helping her. She strained to hear what the three Yagami members started talking about at the kitchen table. Eventually, she could tell that they switched over to the Kira Case.

"So, are you going straight over to Near's house tomorrow, after school?" Sachiko asked Sayu as they started chopping up some vegetables.

"Mmmhhmm, that sounds like the plan. I shouldn't be there too late. Should they drop me off or would you rather pick me up?"

"I'll come pick you up. Do you remember all the rules, going over to boys houses?"

Sayu flushed. "Of course! I don't go into their rooms, no inappropriate behavior and be a complete lady in front of the parents. Oh, and don't be left alone in the house."

Sachiko nodded. "Good. I believe next week your father wants to actually meet Near."

"Mooom," Sayu groaned, flushing again. "He's NOT my boyfriend. There's no reason for Father to meet him."

"Your father has every right to meet whatever friends he wants. It's just dinner. Besides, you should be happy he's still interested in your social life, even with as much work as he has."

"I know," Sayu frowned, looking away from her mother. She hated the fact Sachiko would bring up things like her Father's work to make Sayu feel bad for saying something. She didn't mean to say anything rude, she just preferred not having a whole lot of... oh, domestic problems! That was the perfect phrase. Mentally, she reminded herself to thank Near for the phrase.

Then she started setting the table. She tried listening in to any of their conversations, but they had conveniently changed topic as soon as she came over. She sighed in frustration, but decided not to try pushing anything. She didn't want to worry her dad at all. Or make Light suspicious. Suddenly, she stopped at the entrance of the kitchen and poked her head out around the corner. Light seemed normal, talking with his family members like there wasn't a care in the world. Maybe, he really was just secretive about his private life...

"Sayu, what are you doing?"

She jumped at the sound of her mother's voice and hurried back into the kitchen. "Sorry, I just got a little distracted with my phone," she said, giggling nervously. "Do you want me to bring out the food?"

"Yes, here take the cashew chicken. I'll grab the rice and vegetables." Sayu took the pot from her mother and walking back to the table.

"Oh, the food's ready! I'll go help," Hitomi said, jumping up from her seat and hurrying off. Sayu sat the bowl of food and settled back down in her seat.

She hesitated a second, and then asked, "Light, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Sayu," he smiled. "What is it?"

"I just got this new cipher from one of my friends at school and I'm having a difficult time cracking it. Could you help me get a key for the piece?"

A curious expression came to Light's face, but he nodded. "Of course. We could do that right after dinner? Is it from this boyfriend too?"

"Uh, yeah, Near gave me the piece. He said he was having trouble cracking it himself," Sayu said. Then she winced, when she realized who she mentioned.

"Near? What kind of name is that?" Light asked, his brow furrowing.

"Uh..." Thankfully, Sachiko and Hitomi saved Sayu from having to say anything else. She turned her attention straight to their conversation and jumped right in at the earliest opportunity. She glanced at her brother part way through the dinner. She might have said to much...

#

#

"Father!" Elle hugged onto L as soon as she stepped into his hotel room. This time the hunched detective didn't hesitate to hug her back. He was shocked by how much he missed her. It was ridiculous that he should be this emotional being separated from his child for just a few days. But he found he couldn't shake the feeling of happiness of seeing his daughter. He decided it was best he felt this way just for her.

"How has the last few days been?" he asked, letting go of the young girl in front of him.

She beamed. "It's been amazing. Sachiko has been teaching me how to cook and I've been helping Sayu with her homework and I've got that cipher I've been studying. Oh, here's the copy I made."

She handed L two sheets of paper. One sheet was completely filled back to back, but the other one was only half full. Everything was just jumbled together, nothing made any complete words that made sense. There was spaces obviously, but he had no idea what anything could mean. "Sayu gave this to you? Did she tell you where she got it?" he asked her, settling down on the couch.

Elle shook her head and said, "I didn't really even ask. I figured Near had just made it for her."

"No, I talked with him. He doesn't have anything to do with the cipher, other than the fact he found it." L frowned and started looking at the cipher. Already, his mind was trying to take apart the words. "Did Sayu share anything that she might have cracked?"

"No, we haven't had much time to talk alone," she frowned. "I can ask her tomorrow night when I see her."

"That's fine. I'll work on it too. Hopefully we can crack this soon."

"Wanna do it tonight? We always work better together Father!" L smiled. He really had missed Elle.

#

#

"Sayu, where did you get this?!" Light asked, slightly surprised.

Sayu swallowed and told him, "I said from Near. He's really smart."

"I can tell. This thing is very complicated." Light frowned, suddenly looking suspicious. "This looks familiar..."

"Uh..." _Crap, crap, crap this was a bad idea! I shouldn't have shared it. _"Oh! I forgot, I have some homework still. I gotta go." She snatched the piece of paper up and hurried out of the room. She froze just outside in the hallway. She could hear something. Was that... cackling? Where was it coming from? She strained her ears, but suddenly the sound was gone. Reluctantly, Sayu started up the stairs. "I have to be imagining things," she muttered, closing her bedroom door and flopping on the bed. She stared at the sheet in her hands. What did this say? Was Light really... could he be a murderer? It was just so suspicious to have such a complicated cipher in his dresser that was hidden so carefully.

Eventually, she got up and went to her secret hiding area. She pulled out the manilla folder and placed the cipher in its place. Then she broke the seal and started scanning the pages.

**~A/N~**

**Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter. I'm not sure if I actually like it, but the next chapter should be more entertaining. Thanks for reading! R&R**

**XmX**


End file.
